UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA 

COLLEGE    OF    AGRICULTURE 

AGRICULTURAL   EXPERIMENT  STATION 

CIRCULAR  No.  209 

(March,  1919) 

Reprinted  June,  1921 

THE  FUNCTION  OF  THE  FARM  BUREAU 

By  B.  H.  CROCHERON 


The  time  has  come  when  the  farm  bureau  should  pause  to  consider 
what  is  its  real  function  in  the  life  of  the  nation.  At  present  the  farm 
bureau  movement,  the  greatest  organization  of  farmers  that  the  world 
has  ever  seen,  is  very  certain  that  it  is  on  its  way,  but  somewhat  unde- 
cided whither  it  is  going. 

Farm  bureaus  are  a  natural  outgrowth  of  the  desire  of  American 
farmers  to  do  two  things.  First,  to  unite  for  mutual  self-help  and 
cooperation  along  any  line  that  may  be  needed,  and  second,  to  get 
into  close  and  intimate  touch  with  those  institutions  of  public  enterprise 
and  of  the  government  which  have  accumulated  the  information  neces- 
sary to  make  farm  life  more  prosperous. 

Therefore  we  may  well  stop  to  consider  the  real  purpose  of  the  farm 
Jpureau  and  what  phase  of  farm  bureau  work  should  be  most  empha- 
sized in  the  future.  In  so  doing  I  desire  only  to  consider  what  is  best 
for  the  farmers  of  California.  Primarily  I  am  not  interested  in  the 
farm  bureau  unless  it  is  the  best  type  of  organization  for  the  farmers 
of  the  state  and  unless,  in  turn,  it  will  do  its  part  towards  making 
American  homes  and  lives  better  and  set  this  nation  upon  a  still  firmer 
foundation  than  it  now  possesses.  I  am  interested  in  farm  bureaus 
only  as  an  aid  toward  that  end  and  if  a  more  efficient  organization  can 
be  devised  to  carry  on  this  work  the  farm  bureau  should  give  place 
to  it.  I  am  interested  far  less  in  the  perpetuation  of  farm  advisors  or 
of  other  agricultural  extension  work.  I  consider  them  only  in  relation 
to  the  welfare  of  the  people  of  this  state  and  country.  They  have  no 
other  function  than  to  aid  the  development  of  rural  life,  which  in  turn 
is  the  greatest  stabilizer  in  our  national  existence. 

The  farm  bureaus  started  in  several  states  under  various  names 
and  under  plans  which  were  widely  divergent.  Even  today  the  farm 
bureaus  of  America  vary  so  widely  in  their  administration,  organiza- 
tion, projects,  and  development  as  to  be  almost  unrecognizable  as 
similar  organizations  occupied  in  similar  work.   This  is  chiefly  because 

*  An  address  delivered  before  the  Annual  Farm  Bureaus  Conference.     Printed 
by  request  of  the  Conference. 


2  UNIVERSITY   OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT   STATION 

the  farm  bureau  was  new  and  untried,  so  that  in  the  beginning  no  one 
had  the  foresight  or  temerity  to  set  down  on  paper  a  definite  method 
of  work  or  a  definite  plan  for  the  fulfillment  of  those  objects  which 
were  in  the  minds  of  all  farmers.  The  experience  of  the  last  few  years 
has  been  so  scanty  that  even  now  we  hesitate  to  say  that  any  one  plan 
is  best  among  the  several  that  have  been  advanced  or  that  any  one 
specific  sphere  of  work  is  alone  the  function  of  the  farm  bureau. 

California  was  somewhat  fortunate  among  the  states  in  that  its 
farm  bureau  movement  developed  later  than  in  some  others  and  had 
something  of  a  background  upon  which  to  plan  out  the  type  of  organ- 
ization and  method  of  work.  A  definite  constitution  and  by-laws  were 
laid  down  in  the  fall  of  1914,  which  have  been  almost  unanimously 
followed  by  the  thirty-seven  counties  organized  during  the  past  five 
years.  •  Thus,  in  California,  we  have  a  unity  of  organization  which  is 
coincident  in  all  the  counties  and  which  articulates  right  down  to  the 
farm  bureau  center  itself.  The  particular  features  of  the  California 
type  of  organization  which  are  most  worthy  of  note  are  those  which 
stress  and  emphasize  the  rural  community  as  the  unit  of  organization. 
These  communities,  or  farm  bureau  centers,  are  represented  upon  the 
board  of  directors.  Necessarily,  therefore,  that  board  itself  represents 
the  entire  county  or  those  portions  thereof  that  have  membership  in 
the  farm  bureau. 

Another  type  of  farm  bureau  organization  prevalent  in  some  other 
states,  contemplates  no  community  organizations  or  farm  bureau  cen- 
ters. In  that  type,  the  board  of  directors  represents  lines  of  work  or 
projects  and  are  preferably  chosen  at  or  near  the  county-seat  in  order 
that  they  may  easily  get  together  for  conference.  This,  it  seems  to  us, 
tends  to  stress  the  county-seat  or  chief  city  of  the  county  as  the  ema- 
nating point  for  the  work  rather  than  the  rural  community  which  is 
the  natural  gathering  place  of  the  people  who  live  on  farms.  Indeed, 
it  was  felt  in  California  that  there  was  some  danger  in  having  the 
board  of  directors  consist  of  men  who  largely  came  from  that  central 
point  and  were  interested  in  special  projects  since  they  might  not  truly 
represent  the  whole  farm  population  of  the  county. 

At  first  in  some  states  the  farm  bureaus  were  not  promoted  by  the 
agricultural  colleges.  They  were  looked  upon  somewhat  askance  as  a 
dangerous  and  untried  procedure  which  might  wreck  the  move  for 
agricultural  extension  being  promoted  by  the  federal  and  state  govern- 
ments by  means  of  paid  extension  workers.  Later  this  fear  passed 
away  and  the  colleges  of  agriculture  came  to  welcome  the  farm  bureau 
as  they  saw  more  fully  its  possibilities  of  development  and  the  progress 
which  might  be  made  in  agricultural  extension  work  when  it  was 
furthered  by  a  large  body  of  farmers  who  worked  in  close  cooperation 
with  it.    However,  in  this  state,  the  value  of  the  farm  bureau  has  been 


Circular  20$  the  FUNCTION"  6f  THfi  FARM  BUREAU  3 

fully  recognized  from  the  beginning.  Therefore  the  administration 
of  this  college  has  required  every  county  that  desired  the  services  of 
a  farm  advisor  to  first  form  a  county  farm  bureau  in  which  there  were 
20  per  cent  of  the  farmers  in  membership  as  an  attest  of  their  desire 
for  the  work  of  the  farm  advisor  amongst  them.  The  wisdom  of  this 
has  been  proven  by  experience  in  that  no  county  of  California  has 
ever  permanently  abandoned  the  work  which  has  gone  steadily  for- 
ward from  that  time  until  now,  when  85  per  cent  of  the  farmers  of  the 
state  are  represented  in  counties  which  have  farm  bureaus.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  the  small  residue  of  l£>  per  cent  could  easily  be  encouraged 
to  consummate  their  organization  if  there  were  any  hope  of  funds  to 
give  them  a  farm  advisor  for  their  service. 

In  organizing  the  farm  bureau  the  problem  necessarily  became  at 
once :  what  was  this  new  farm  bureau  to  do ;  what  was  to  be  its  sphere 
of  work ;  how  far  was  it  to  go  in  the  various  movements  requested  by 
farmers;  and  finally,  what  was  to  be  the  relation  between  that  farm 
bureau  and  the  government  and  the  state  agent  placed  in  the  county 
to  work  on  the  extension  of  agriculture  ?  These  problems  in  part  are 
still  before  us.  Let  us  then  look  back  to  see  what  was  the  original 
conception  of  the  California  farm  bureau  both  as  to  its  plan  of  organ- 
ization and  its  sphere  of  work. 

In  planning  the  California  type  of  farm  bureau  the  constitution 
was  very  carefully  written  so  that  no  federal  or  state  official  might 
have  any  direction  over  it.  The  organization  was  definitely  and  pur- 
posely placed  wholly  in  the  hands  of  farmers  elected  from  among  their 
fellow  membership  representing  agricultural  communities  of  the  county 
who  would  have  in  their  hands  the  whole  direction  and  determination 
of  the  policies  of  the  farm  bureau.  The  belief  upon  which  this  was 
based  was  that  the  farmers  of  California  were  wholly  competent  to 
guide  their  own  affairs,  and  that  provided  this  board  of  directors  ade- 
quately represented  the  wishes  of  the  members  of  their  county,  there 
would  be  no  doubt  either  of  the  definiteness  of  their  plans  or  of  the 
propriety  of  their  course  since  I  believed  essentially  in  the  collective 
wisdom  of  the  farmers  of  the  state.  In  order  that  these  farm  bureau 
directors  might  really  represent  the  wishes  of  their  constituents  and 
might  have  frequent  opportunity  to  gather  together  their  desires  and 
proposals,  it  was  planned  that  every  farm  bureau  center  should  hold 
a  meeting  once  a  month  at  which  they  might  receive  from  their  director 
the  report  of  the  last  directors'  meeting  held  at  the  county  seat,  and 
might  signify  to  him  their  wishes  and  plans  for  the  future.  In  order 
that  the  farm  advisor  working  with  the  farm  bureau  might  have  the 
benefit  of  the  opinions  and  knowledge  expressed,  and  that  he,  in  turn, 
would  have  an  opportunity  for  getting  his  advice  to  the  farm  bureau 
centers,  it  was  planned  that  in  general  he  should  be  present  at  their 


4  UNIVERSITY   OF    CALIFORNIA — EXPERIMENT    STATION 

meeting.  The  danger  in  this  was  recognized  in  that  the  farmers  might 
come  to  feel  that  because  the  farm  advisor  was  there  that  it  was  the  farm 
advisor's  meeting  and  not  the  farm  bureau  meeting.  It  was  believed, 
however,  that  by  proper  direction  and  supervision  from  the  central 
office  the  farm  advisor  could  be  held  in  his  proper  capacity  as  related 
to  the  farm  bureau  and  could  be  brought  to  understand  and  clearly 
bear  in  mind  that  he  had  no  other  function  so  far  as  the  policies  of  the 
farm  bureau  were  concerned  than  to  give  advice  and  consultation  when 
it  was  asked. 

Persons  who  were  conversant  with  farmers'  meetings  told  us  that 
it  would  not  be  possible  to  continue  to  gather  indefinitely  the  people 
of  any  given  community  at  a  meeting  once  a  month  because  they  would 
soon  be  tired  of  such  a  gathering  and  would  gradually  stop  attending. 
There  was  no  experience  upon  which  to  base  this  conclusion  except 
that  various  itinerant  agencies,  such  as  farmers'  institutes,  had  found 
their  attendance  decreasing  during  the  past  generation.  My  belief 
was  that  if  a  definite  and  permanent  organization  could  be  formed 
which  would  have  a  programme  of  work  based  upon  concrete  and  feas- 
ible projects  for  the  development  of  the  community,  the  county,  the 
state,  and  the  nation  that  the  people  would  continue  to  come  because 
of  the  efficiency  of  the  organization  and  because  of  their  interest  and 
part  in  the  work  it  was  doing.  This  belief  has  been  amply  borne  out 
by  the  experience  of  the  past  five  years,  wherein  the  average  attendance 
at  farm  bureau  centers  in  the  state  has  steadily  but  slowly  gained,  and 
while  it  was  satisfactory  in  the  beginning,  it  is  still  more  so  at  this 
date,  when  the  average  attendance  at  farm  bureau  centers  in  California 
is  forty-one  persons.  Not  only  have  these  farm  bureau  centers  con- 
tinued to  increase  in  attention  and  interest,  but  they  have  been  perma- 
nent in  their  location,  the  percentage  of  those  that  have  passed  away 
being  so  small  as  to  be  almost  negligible,  while  the  number  of  them  has 
now  grown  until  there  are  429  such  community  centers  in  California. 

In  all  this  time,  however,  the  activity  has  been  largely  one  of 
organization  and  development.  The  most  interesting  feature  of  this 
organization  was  that  we  did  not  at  first  form  a  statewide  farm  bureau 
or  a  state  board  of  direction  wherefrom  it  was  brought  down  to  the 
counties  and  later  to  the  communities  and  ultimately  to  the  people,  but 
that  one  by  one  these  farm  bureau  centers  were  formed  in  California 
by  the  people  themselves  wherever  there  was  a  group  of  persons  who 
felt  it  desirable  to  get  together  for  their  mutual  development  and  im- 
provement. The  organization  has  grown  from  the  ground  up  and 
consequently  is  solidly  set  thereon.  I  do  not  believe  that  any  other 
factor  than  an  absolutely  unwise  and  malicious  direction  could  now 
wreck  the  farm  bureau  movement  in  California. 


-Circular  209  THe  FUNCTION  OF  THE  farm  BUREAU  5 

The  very  nature  of  the  farm  bureau  under  the  California  plan  has 
made  for  a  wide  autonomy  of  the  farm  bureau  centers  whereby  they 
have  developed  their  own  programme  and  projects  of  work.  While 
the  method  under  which  the  farm  bureau  centers  are  organized,  main- 
tained and  directed  is  the  same  throughout  the  state,  yet  because  the 
problems  of  the  communities  differ,  the  projects  they  have  stressed  are 
widely  divergent.  This  was  all  expressly  provided  and  desired.  The 
system  of  organization  has  worked  out  as  planned  with  astonishing 
success.  * 

But  how  about  the  purpose — the  function  of  the  organization  ? 
Was  there  a  definite  conception  of  what  the  farm  bureau  should  do? 
May  I  read  you  what  was  proposed  as  the  function  of  the  California 
farm  bureau  at  the  time  of  its  inception  to  see  whether  we  have  in  any 
way  strayed  from  this  original  plan  of  action,  and  if  so,  whether  this 
divergence  is  wise  or  unwise : 

A  farm  bureau  is  an  organization  of  farmers  and  ranchers  who  combine  to 
promote  agriculture  through  cooperative  study  of  farm  conditions. 

Many  types  of  farmers'  organizations  have  long  been  existent.  There  have 
been  farmers'  clubs,  granges,  institutes,  unions,  alliances,  and  others.  Some  of 
these  have  been  more  or  less  successful,  but  many  have  passed  away.  Their 
failure  has  usually  been  due  to  one  or  more  of  the  following  causes:  (1)  lack  of 
a  distinct  purpose  to  fill  a  definite  need;  (2)  lack  of  membership  to  sufficiently 
represent  all  classes  of  farmers  and  types  of  farming;  (3)  lack  of  cooperation 
with  other  similar  farm  organizations;  (4)  lack  of  continuous  and  unselfish 
leadership. 

The  farm  bureau  is  distinct  from  all  of  these.  It  is  not  primarily  a  social 
organization;  neither  is  it  essentially  to  unite  farmers  so  as  to  lower  prices  of 
stuffs  bought  and  to  raise  prices  of  products  sold.  It  is  formed  to  bring  together 
for  mutual  cooperation  those  farmers  who  want  to  investigate  the  fundamental 
problems  that  are  involved  in  production  on  their  farms. 

Every  state  and  territory  has  at  least  one  "experiment  farm"  supported  by 
federal  and  state  funds.  These  have  been  exceedingly  valuable  because  the 
results  therefrom  were  noted  by  men  whose  business  and  interest  it  was  to  ob- 
serve. The  acreages  of  these  farms  were  small;  their  crops  were  often  meager — 
and  yet  they  have  been  worth  millions  beyond  their  cost  because  the  records  of 
productions  and  the  conditions  under  which  they  were  grown  were  known  and 
noted. 

Many  of  our  farm  problems  are  already  solved  on  the  farms  of  the  nation. 
Individuals  have  found  the  solution  of  vexing  questions  that  are  agitating  the 
experiment  stations  and  agricultural  colleges.  But  these  solutions  usually  fall 
out  of  sight  unnoted  or  are  known  only  to  the  man  on  whose  farm  they  occur. 
If  these  unknown  and  unnoted  experiments  could  be  gathered,  they  would  at 
once  add  much  to  our  view  of  agriculture. 

In  America  there  are  on  the  average  more  than  100,000  farms  to  each  "ex- 
periment farm."  Obviously,  if  the  results  on  some  small  percentage  of  these 
could  be  viewed  from  the  same  standpoint  as  at  the  experiment  farm,  the  benefits 
would  enormously  outnumber  the  records  achieved  by  the  experiment  stations. 
It  i3,  of  course,  impossible  to  gather  all  this  material  or  to  note  all  the  changing 
conditions  on  farms.    But  it  may  be  possible  to  gather  together  into  one  county 


6  UNIVERSITY   OF    CALIFORNIA — EXPERIMENT   STATION 

organization  the  wide-awake  and  interested  farmers  who  will  compare  their  re- 
sults with  those  of  others  and,  in  a  more  or  less  scientific  way,  plan  out  experi- 
ments and  demonstrations  on  their  own  farms.    Such  is  a  farm  bureau. 

Fundamentally,  then,  a  farm  bureau  for  the  county  can  be  collectively  a  sort 
of  giant  experiment  station  with  several  hundred  observers  who  hold  a  monthly 
caucus  to  compare  results. 

The  farm  bureau  has  a  trained  man  to  aid  it:  the  farm  advisor  (see  Circular 
133).  It  is  his  business  to  help  interpret  results,  to  point  out  new  lines  of  work, 
and  to  deduce  conclusions  from  the  evidence  at  hand.  The  farm  bureau  can  be 
of  greater  value  to  the  county  than  the  farm  advisor.  Together,  they  can  be  of 
more  benefit  than  either  alone. 

Other  activities  may  concern  the  farm  bureau  besides  local  research  into 
agricultural  problems. 

The  farm  bureau  may  be  a  sort  of  rural  chamber  of  commerce  and  thus  be 
the  guardian  of  rural  affairs.  It  can  take  the  lead  in  agitation  for  good  roads, 
for  better  schools,  and  for  cheaper  methods  of  buying  and  selling.  Various  sub- 
sidiary organizations  of  the  farm  bureau,  known  as  farm  bureau  departments, 
may  be  formed,  thus  linking  together  persons  of  similar  or  identical  interests. 
Perhaps,  most  of  all,  the  farm  bureau  can  help  promote  the  social  institutions  of 
country  life.  Some  rural  neighbors  are  so  starved  for  recreational  meetings  that 
they  will  come  out  to  anything  from  a  patent-medicine  show  to  a  school  meeting. 
The  farm  bureau  can  help  put  more  recreation  into  rural  life.  Every  country 
neighborhood  ought  to  have  some  social  gathering  at  least  once  a  week.  It  is 
almost  as  much  needed  as  the  spiritual  congregations  at  the  church,  or  the 
educational  assemblages  of  the  children  at  the  schoolhouse. 

But  very  surely  and  insistently  the  farm  bureau  is  not  first  and  foremost  of 
these  purposes — good  and  desirable  as  they  may  be.  Perhaps  the  farm  bureau 
can  help  to  buy  cheaper  and  better  seeds,  can  help  to  boost  the  local  socials,  can 
encourage  the  faltering  school  teacher,  can  get  out  and  talk  for  good  roads — but 
its  first  and  surest  function  is  to  increase  the  local  knowledge  of  agricultural  fact. 

This  was  written  in  1915  as  a  part  of  the  University  circular  on 
the  "County  Farm  Bureau."  As  I  look  over  the  list  of  farm  bureau 
activities  I  regard  it  as  remarkable  that  we  have  so  clearly  followed 
the  lines  indicated  in  the  statement  there  laid  down,  and  from  my 
rather  intimate  knowledge  of  the  work  of  the  California  farm  bureaus 
I  stand  here  today  to  say  to  you  that  the  farm  bureaus  of  California 
up  to  this  time  and  this  point  have  stood  solidly  behind  that  platform 
expressed  in  those  few  paragraphs.  In  other  words,  the  California 
farm  bureaus  have  been  largely  an  educational  agency  in  the  broadest 
sense  of  the  term.  Their  greatest  contribution  to  the  welfare  of  the 
people  has  been  their  dissemination  in  an  organized  way  of  better 
methods  of  farm  life  as  they  have  seen  it.  Occasionally,  when  they 
have  seen  the  need  of  it,  they  have  gone  from  this  to  take  up  the  better 
handling  of  economic  problems  as  business  concerns,  or  as  the  pro- 
moters of  business  concerns.  Personally,  I  have  believed — and  believe 
today — that  it  is  a  proper  function  of  the  farm  bureau  to  set  up  busi- 
ness relations  when  they  can  do  so  in  a  better  way — and  by  that  I 
mean  better  in  the  broad  sense  for  all  those  concerned — better  than 


Circular  209  THE  FUNCTION  OF  THE  FARM   BUREAU  7 

existent  agencies  which  are  already  doing  the  work.  I  do  not  believe 
that  the  farm  bureau  should  be  an  agency  which  attempts  to  squeeze 
out  the  other  members  of  the  rural  community  or  which  should  set  up 
a  sort  of  agricultural  trust  to  manage  and  operate  all  rural  affairs. 
I  am  glad  to  say  that  the  farm  bureaus  in  California  have  never  per- 
mitted this  and  that  their  actions  in  the  past  five  years  have  shown 
such  remarkable  judgment  as  to  wholly  justify  the  original  preface 
that  the  collective  wisdom  of  the  farmers  of  California  enabled  them 
to  guide  competently  their  own  affairs. 

I  have  conceded  that  the  chief  function  of  the  farm  bureau  is  that 
of  an  educational  agency,  and  I  have  testified  that  the  farm  bureaus 
in  California  have  been  chiefly  an  educational  factor  in  the  past.  I 
believe  that  this  should  be  because  most  of  our  problems  are  first  edu- 
cational in  nature,  although  they  may  later  proceed  from  that  to  the 
practice  of  what  that  education  teaches.  I  may  be  permitted  to  quote 
one  or  two  instances  of  this. 

Three  years  ago  the  hog  market  situation  in  California  was  unsat- 
isfactory to  both  the  farmers  who  produced  the  hogs  and  the  packers 
who  bought  the  hogs,  and  an  unintelligent  survey  of  the  surface  indi- 
cations might  have  led  some  to  suppose  that  what  was  immediately 
needed  was  to  set  up  some  sort  of  a  machine  whereby  the  packing 
companies  would  immediately  become  displaced  by  some  sort  of  a 
farmers'  organization  which  would  undertake  to  take  the  hogs  off  the 
farm  and  deliver  them  in  cured  form  to  the  people.  Such  a  scheme 
would  have  required  an  enormous  amount  of  money  and  might  have 
been  doubtful  of  success,  depending  not  only  on  the  type  of  organiza- 
tion and  a  high  class  management  with  expert  knowledge  of  packing 
and  selling  practices,  but  also  upon  the  antagonism  and  strife  in  the 
trade  which  would  have  ensued.  Instead  of  that  an  educational  idea 
was  brought  from  Australia  by  one  of  the  farm  advisors  based  on  the 
principle  that  the  trouble  with  the  hog  market  in  California  was  caused 
by  three  things:  first,  the  farmers  grew  poor  hogs;  second,  they  sold 
them  in  ungraded  and  undesirable  sized  lots ;  and  third,  there  was  no 
free  competition  in  their  purchase.  The  result  of  this  was  the  inaug- 
uration of  a  demonstration  of  the  auction  sales  system  as  a  method  of 
marketing  hogs.  This  auction  sale  brought  the  hogs  together  from  the 
farmers  to  a  central  point.  A  committee  of  farmers  graded  them  and 
placed  them  in  carload  lots.  Buyers  came  to  that  place  and  in  the 
presence  of  the  farmers  bought  the  hogs  in  an  open  market  for  the 
highest  bid.  The  result  was  that  the  packers  got  the  kind  of  hogs  they 
wanted,  in  the  right  sized  lots,  at  the  highest  prices  they  could  afford 
to  pay.  The  farmers  got  the  best  prices  obtainable  in  the  open  market 
for  the  best  hogs  and  the  man  who  grew  good  hogs  received  a  premium 
over  him  who  raised  poor  hogs.      The  plan  succeeded  well  because  it 


8  UNIVERSITY   OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 

served  a  real  need  in  the  community  and  because  it  showed  both  the 
farmers  and  the  packers  the  real  status  of  the  hog  market.  It  has 
swept  like  wildfire  over  many  of  the  counties  of  California,  and  al- 
though still  in  its  youth  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars'  worth  of  hogs 
are  sold  each  month  under  this  system  which,  on  the  average,  give  at 
least  1  cent  per  pound  more  to  the  farmers  for  their  hogs  than  ever 
was  obtained  before.  The  packers  say  that  the  hogs  are  better  in 
quality  than  were  ever  known  in  the  state  and  the  farmers  say  that 
they  get  nearer  the  prices  they  think  they  deserve  than  they  have  ever 
experienced.  It  is  assumed  that  even  the  small  number  of  auction  sales 
held  in  the  state  last  year  saved  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars  which 
went  directly  into  the  pockets  of  the  farmers  of  the  state.  This  was 
accomplished  without  setting  up  any  elaborate  machinery  and  without 
causing  the  farmers  to  go  deep  in  their  pockets  to  support  an  extensive 
plant  which  might  never  pay.  It  was  made  possible  because  educa- 
tional thought  had  been  brought  to  bear  upon  the  problem  and  the 
farmers,  in  turn,  were  advised  of  every  change  in  the  situation  and  of 
the  best  methods  for  getting  the  results  that  they  desired. 

I  need  only  mention  one  more  result  which  is  so  large  and  far- 
reaching  as  to  quite  beggar  description,  namely,  that  of  the  war  emerg- 
ency campaigns  conducted  by  the  farm  bureaus  at  the  instance  of  the 
University  of  California  and  the  United  States  Department  of  Agri- 
culture.    These  campaigns  sought  to  advise  farmers  what  crops  were 
needed  for  the  successful  prosecution  of  the  war  which,  of  course, 
meant  the  crops  that  would  be  in  demand  and  which  thereafter  might 
be  expected  to  bring  a  fair  price.     Sometimes  when  these  campaigns 
were  launched  it  was  difficult  for  farmers  to  see  wherein  they  would 
derive  a  profit,  but  because  they  were  based  upon  a  real  knowledge  of 
the  conditions  of  the  world's  markets  and  because  furthermore  they 
took  into  consideration  the  promotion  of  the  permanent  agriculture  of 
the  state  each  one  was  founded  upon  a  real  knowledge  of  conditions. 
An   educational   institution,   the   farm   bureau,    became   the    agency 
through  which  each  campaign  was  furthered  in  the  county.    Farmers 
planted  wheat  although  the  price  was  low,  but  when  that  wheat  came 
to  be  harvested  the  price  was  higher  than  that  of  barley,  and  those  that 
had  wheat  and  had  followed  the  advice  of  the  farm  bureau  found  no 
difficulty  in  their  marketing  problems.    Farmers  grew  hogs  in  response 
to  the  hog  campaign,  and  while  it  did  not  then  look  possible  to  raise 
hogs  at  a  profit,  by  the  time  the  hogs  were  fed  and  grown  the  price  of 
feed  had  been  so  reduced  and  the  price  of  hogs  so  advanced  that  the 
farmers  throughout  the  state  found  that  they  had  grown  them  at  a 
profit.     In  turn  the  sheep  campaign  was  furthered  because  of  the 
prospective  need  of  the  government  for  wool.     Where  sheep  were 
economically  maintained  on  farms  they  resulted  not  only  in  an  imme- 


Circular  209  THE  function  of  the  farm  bureau  9 

diate  profit  to  the  farmers  but  in  a  permanent  addition  to  California 
agriculture.  Diversification  of  crops  which  was  furthered  by  these 
war  emergency  campaigns  upon  a  sound  economic  basis  has  lessened 
unrest,  has  made  for  the  local  advancement  of  farm  management  in 
its  right  sense,  and  has  bettered  the  condition  of  California  farming 
more  than  any  one  thing  in  the  last  ten  years.  Farmers  who  were  not 
in  touch  with  these  campaigns,  in  their  desire  to  help  the  food  situation 
of  the  government,  often  unwisely  grew  crops  which  were  not  later  in 
demand  and  which  consequently  they  could  not  market.  Some  of 
these  still  remain  on  their  hands,  although  it  is  hoped  that  the  difficulty 
may  be  overcome  within  the  next  few  months.  I  wish  only  to  point 
out  that  the  farm  bureaus  in  California  have  chiefly  used  educational 
means  to  overcome  their  difficulties  and  in  the  main  have  been  suc- 
cessful. 

Nevertheless,  after  all  is  said  and  done  there  does  remain  a  residue 
of  problems,  complications,  and  injustices  which  can  only  be  solved  by 
farmers'  organizations  going  ahead  to  better  their  conditions  in  any 
legitimate  way  that  seems  to  them  feasible.  I  am  perfectly  in  accord 
with  any  well  organized  and  considered  movement  of  the  farmers  to 
better  the  conditions  of  the  state,  and  therefore  of  the  nation,  through 
any  means  which  may  seem  most  feasible  and  desirable  to  the  united 
judgment  of  the  farmers  of  the  state  as  expressed  through  the  farm 
bureaus.  I  believe  that  the  membership  and  direction  of  the  farm 
bureau  is  so  representative  and  I  believe  that  the  collective  judgment 
of  those  who  live  on  the  land  is  so  correct  that  if  the  farm  bureaus  are 
given  a  full  opportunity  to  consider  rural  problems  and  to  understand 
them  in  their  various  phases  they  cannot  go  far  wrong.  Therefore,  I 
have  entire  confidence  in  the  future  of  this  organization  and  the  direc- 
tion it  will  take  provided  it  is  kept  as  at  present,  so  that  the  far-spread 
membership  of  20,000  may  express  themselves  directly  through  their 
representatives  on  the  policies  of  the  organization.  If  there  is  to  be 
a  state  farm  bureau,  it  should  be  as  democratic  and  representative  in 
its  organization  as  are  those  of  the  counties.  Its  affairs  should  not  be 
handed  over  to  a  small  executive  committee,  but  should  be  managed 
by  a  representative  from  every  county.  So  long  as  the  farm  bureau 
functions  as  a  democratic  institution  which  represents  all  parts  and 
parcels  of  the  rural  body  politic,  there  need  be  no  fear  for  the  future. 

In  all  this  I  have  mentioned  but  seldom  the  county  farm  advisor 
who  has  been  the  ever-present  agent  to  aid  this  farm  bureau  in  its  work. 
He  is  the  representative  of  the  federal  and  state  institutions  of  agri- 
culture in  extending  their  work  in  the  counties  of  the  state  and  nation. 
Already  three  thousand  of  these  men  are  at  work  in  as  many  counties 
of  the  nation  and  more  will  follow.  It  is  important  that  their  position 
should  be  understood  and  that  their  relation  to  the  farm  bureau  should 


10  UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 

be  clear,  in  order  that  we  should  not  be  confused  in  oar  minds  as  to 
the  function  of  the  farm  bureau  in  distinction  from  that  of  the  farm 
advisor.  These  two  have  worked  together  so  harmoniously  that  persons 
are  likely  to  confuse  them.  I  believe,  however,  that  the  future  of  this 
work,  so  far  as  the  farm  bureaus  are  concerned,  is  dependent  upon  the 
drawing  of  a  clear  distinction  between  the  work  of  the  farm  bureau 
which  is  the  farmers'  agency  and  that  of  the  farm  advisor  who  is  the 
agent  of  the  state  and  national  governmental  agencies. 

The  farm  advisor  is  placed  in  the  county  for  a  specific  purpose, 
which  is  to  extend  the  knowledge  which  the  agricultural  colleges  and 
experiment  stations  have  gained  through  the  intensive  research  work 
of  the  investigators  who  are  behind  them.  He  is  the  field  agent  of  the 
agricultural  forces  of  the  nation.  As  such  he  does  not  represent  the 
farm  bureau  nor  is  he  directed  by  the  farm  bureau,  but  rather  he  is 
maintained  as  closely  as  possible  in  direct  relation  with  the  federal  and 
state  governments.    This  is  of  the  utmost  importance. 

The  value  of  the  farm  advisor  to  the  people  of  the  county  is  in 
having  the  unbiased  judgment  of  an  official  who  does  not  represent  a 
local  situation  or  a  local  constituency,  whose  appointment  and  whose 
term  of  office  is  not  dependent  upon  the  favor  of  local  politicians  or 
even  of  certain  influential  farmers,  but  who  represents  the  organized 
agricultural  forces  of  the  government  and  the  knowledge  that  they 
have  concerning  the  betterment  of  rural  life.  His  value  to  the  people 
is  in  precise  proportion  to  the  extent  to  which  he  knows  and  tells  the 
truth.  His  only  function  in  that  county  is  to  disseminate  the  subject 
matter  which  has  been  slowly  and  painstakingly  gathered  by  the  agri- 
cultural institutions,  which,  like  great  factories,  are  slowly  but  surely 
grinding  out  the  product  of  the  knowledge  of  life.  He  may  advise 
the  farm  bureau  upon  its  request  as  to  the  procedure  which  it  may  best 
follow.  He  may  cooperate  with  it  and  doubtless  will  cooperate  with 
it  on  most  of  the  projects  that  it  has  under  study,  but  in  so  doing  he 
must  be  clearly  defined  as  a  governmental  official  who  is  working  for 
the  benefit  of  the  whole  people.  There  can  be  only  three  possible  rela- 
tionships between  the  farm  bureau  and  the  farm  advisor. 

The  first  would  be  to  put  the  farm  bureau  under  the  direction  of 
the  farm  advisor  and  to  have  the  farm  bureau  the  official  agency  which 
carried  out  the  projects  and  purposes  of  the  farm  advisor,  and  there- 
fore of  those  officials  and  agencies  which  directed  the  farm  advisor. 
Such  a  plan  would  imply  that  the  farm  bureau  should  not  undertake 
any  projects  unless  approved  by  the  government.  As  such  it  is  clearly 
inadvisable  unless  the  farmers  desire  to  exercise  no  initiative  or  judg- 
ment of  their  own. 

The  second  possible  relationship  is  that  the  farm  bureau  should 
direct  the  farm  advisor,  and  that  he  should  be  a  sort  of  secretary  or 


Circular  209  THe  function  of  the  farm  bureau  11 

manager  for  that  farm  bureau  whereby  he  carried  out  the  proposals 
and  plans  of  the  organization.  Such  a  relationship  would  soon  result 
in  the  farm  advisor  losing  his  entire  significance  and  would  in  time 
prevent  his  support  from  public  funds. 

The  third  relationship  is  that  which  we  have  conceived  and  prac- 
ticed in  this  state,  wherein  the  farm  bureau  and  farm  advisor  are 
separate  and  distinct  instruments  for  the  furtherance  of  agriculture. 
The  farm  advisor  is  directed  by  the  federal  and  state  governments  and 
the  farm  bureau  is  directed  by  the  farmers  through  their  represent- 
atives who  are  directors  of  the  farm  bureau.  When  the  farm  bureau 
desires  to  carry  on  a  project  which  is  part,  or  wholly,  in  the  nature 
of  agricultural  extension,  then  that  part  may  properly  come  within 
the  scope  of  the  farm  advisor.  Then  they  mutually  draw  up  a  project 
or  written  plan  setting  forth  the  piece  of  work  they  are  to  do,  the 
means  by  which  they  are  to  do  it,  and  the  results  they  hope  to  accom- 
plish, and  clearly  distinguish  which  part  in  it  is  to  be  done  by  the  farm 
advisor  and  which  part  by  the  farm  bureau.  This  brings  them  into 
active  cooperation  on  that  particular  project,  but  does  not  necessarily 
mean  that  the  farm  bureau  will  always  work  with  the  farm  advisor, 
nor  that  the  farm  advisor  is  compelled  thereby  to  join  in  every  move- 
ment that  the  farm  bureau  desires  to  further.  It  does  not  hamper  the 
farm  bureau  in  its  work  and  does  not  restrict  it  to  those  purely  ex- 
tension activities  which  are  perhaps  its  chief  function  but  from  which 
it  may  from  time  to  time  depart  in  the  interests  of  the  farmers  of  the 
county.  I  believe  it  would  be  most  unwise  to  attempt  to  put  the  farm 
bureaus  of  this,  or  any  other  state,  under  the  direction  of  the  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture,  or  of  the  State  College  of  Agri- 
culture. I  think  it  would  deprive  them  of  their  primary  reason  for 
existence,  which  is  to  represent  the  free  and  untrammeled  action  of 
the  farmers  of  the  country.  Likewise,  I  believe  it  would  be  most  un- 
fortunate for  the  farm  advisors  to  be  placed  under  the  direction  of  the 
farm  bureaus,  since  it  would  deprive  the  farm  advisors  of  their  real 
mission,  which  is  to  represent  the  state  and  federal  agencies  of  agri- 
culture. Placed  under  the  direction  of  the  farm  bureau,  the  farm 
advisor  becomes  no  more  than  a  farm  bureau  secretary  or  manager 
and  can  have  no  more  than  local  usefulness  and  a  local  boundary  to 
his  horizon. 

I  have  regretted  to  observe  that  some  states  have  not  always  been 
clear  in  their  vision  of  either  the  farm  bureau  or  the  farm  advisor. 
They  have  confused  the  two  in  the  minds  of  the  people  and  have 
sometimes  handed  over  the  direction  of  the  farm  advisor  to  the  farm 
bureaus,  and  then  found  those  farm  bureaus  departing  from  a  strict 
line  of  educational  work  as  was  perhaps  necessary  in  the  county.  This 
brought  the  farm  advisor  and  the  farm  bureau  into  embarrassing  re- 


12  UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 

lations,  and,  in  turn,  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  and 
the  College  of  Agriculture  found  their  agents  embarking  upon  projects 
which  were  neither  federal  nor  state  functions  and  which  could  not 
properly  be  undertaken  by  their  agents  under  the  guise  of  public 
necessities. 

I  conceive  that  there  might  possibly  be  three  types  of  work  going 
on  in  a  county  at  once :  first,  that  work  which  the  farm  advisor  is 
carrying  on  alone  because  it  is  a  matter  in  which  only  the  federal  and 
state  governments  are  interested  and  which  directed  him  to  do  it; 
second,  that  work  which  the  farm  bureau  is  carrying  on  alone  because 
it  is  a  matter  in  which  neither  the  federal  or  state  governments  desire 
to  enter  but  which  the  farmers  of  the  county  desire  to  promote  them- 
selves; and,  third,  that  type  of  activity  upon  which  the  farm  bureau 
and  the  farm  advisor  work  jointly  in  cooperation.  I  anticipate  that 
in  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  90  per  cent  of  the  activity  of  the  farm 
advisor  and  of  the  farm  bureau  will  be  undertaken  together  upon 
projects  to  which  they  mutually  agree.  They  will  work  together  be- 
cause in  the  ultimate  judgment  of  the  farmers  they  will  find  that  the 
solution  of  most  vexing  problems  is  to  be  accomplished  by  means  of 
the  use  of  agricultural  fact  applied  in  an  educational  way  to  the  local 
situation. 

What,  then,  are  to  be  the  constructive  problems  undertaken  in  the 
immediate  future  ?  I  will  venture  to  hazard  a  guess  at  a  few  of  them. 
I  believe  the  first  development  immediately  needed  is  to  make  the  farm 
bureau  the  agency  for  rural  progress  for  the  whole  family.  In  the 
beginning  farm  bureaus  were  predicated  on  the  basis  of  work  with 
men,  and  we  have  only  now  begun  to  see  that  it  is  not  only  with  the 
men  but  also  with  the  women  and  children  that  the  farm  bureaus 
should  work,  since  they,  too,  have  problems  that  need  solving,  and  they, 
too,  should  become  a  part  of  the  rural  organization  which  aims  to  solve 
those  problems.  We  are  just  now  testing  out  in  nine  counties  the  value 
of  the  Farm  Home  Department  of  the  Farm  Bureau,  in  which  latter 
women  join  exactly  on  the  same  basis  as  the  men,  but  find  for  their 
service  a  specially  organized  department  which  concerns  itself  with 
the  problem  of  the  home.  We  have  begun  to  realize  in  some  small 
degree  that  these  problems  are  even  more  vital  because  more  intimate 
with  the  actual  success  of  the  family  placed  on  the  land.  Home  Dem- 
onstration Agents,  who  are  women  specifically  trained  to  bring  light 
to  bear  on  these  problems,  are  placed  in  the  counties  in  exactly  the 
same  relation  to  this  work  as  are  farm  advisors. 

The  work  with  boys  and  girls  is  a  look  ahead  into  the  immediate 
future.  The  school  has  not  entirely  filled  its  place  as  an  educational 
agency  because  the  children  only  spend  five  hours  a  day  for  five  days 
a  week  in  school,  but  the  farm  bureau  can  step  in  where  the  school 


Circular  209  THe  FUNCTION  OF  THE  FARM  BUREAU  13 

leaves  off  and  can  so  organize  the  boys  and  girls  that  they  may  grow 
up  with  the  vision  of  a  better  country  life  and  the  knowledge  of  the 
benefits  that  good  farming  and  good  home  making  may  mean  for  them. 
If  country  life  is  to  prosper  and  progress  we  must  keep  a  fair  share 
of  the  good  strong  American  children  in  the  rural  life  to  which  they 
were  brought  up.  I  believe  this  is  essential  not  only  for  the  perpetu- 
ation of  American  families  on  farms  but  for  the  real  happiness  and 
prosperity  of  these  children  themselves,  since  I  believe  that  under 
proper  conditions  there  is  no  better  place  to  spend  a  life  than  on  a 
good  American  farm.  Our  present  development  is  wholly  along  the 
line  of  agricultural  clubs  for  boys  and  girls.  I  think  I  foresee  the 
development  of  this  idea  until  it  will  integrate  in  the  various  phases 
of  child  life. 

It  may  be,  too,  that  farm  bureaus  will  desire  to  organize  still 
another  agency  as  an  adjunct ;  that  is,  they  have  already  to  some 
degree  the  agricultural  clubs  of  boys  from  ten  to  eighteen  who  are 
growing  crops  on  farms  on  a  competitive  basis  under  the  general  direc- 
tion of  the  farm  bureau.  They  also  have  the  main  division  of  the  farm 
bureau  which  concerns  itself  with  mature  men  and  women,  say,  from 
the  age  of  twenty-five  to  sixty  years.  It  may  become  desirable  to 
organize  a  Junior  Farm  Bureau  for  the  special  service  of  those  young 
men  between  eighteen  and  twenty-five,  taking  them  as  they  leave  the 
agricultural  clubs  and  carryinrg  them  forward  in  to  a  special  division 
of  the  farm  bureau  until  they  have  reached  maturity  and  are  on  their 
own  farms  when  they  go  into  the  main  farm  bureau  itself.  I  have 
dreamed  of  this  Junior  Farm  Bureau  as  the  link  that  would  connect 
the  boys  of  today  with  the  men  of  tomorrow,  and  had  gone  so  far  as  to 
detail  one  of  our  men  to  an  investigation  looking  towards  the  formation 
of  a  Junior  Farm  Bureau  in  one  county.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  war 
the  furtherance  of  that  branch  of  our  work  had,  of  course,  to  be  dis- 
continued, since  the  army  took  precisely  the  group  of  young  men  whom 
we  were  plannig  to  organize  into  this  agency.  With  the  demobilization 
of  the  armies  we  may  turn  back  our  thoughts  to  this  plan,  and  may  soon 
hope  again  to  bring  this  up  before  you  as  a  possible  development. 

I  believe  that  the  farm  bureau  should  be  the  far-sighted  agency 
to  plan  for  a  permanent  agriculture.  Up  to  this  time  we  have  been 
occupied  upon  plans  for  the  immediate  future.  "We  need  to  provide 
a  means  of  making  farming  in  California  a  permanently  successful 
enterprise.  I  need  not  dwell  upon  the  problems  connected  therewith, 
which  are  many  and  diverse,  but  will  merely  mention  one  of  these, 
which  is — and  I  almost  say  it  with  bated  breath — the  increase  of  alkali 
wherever  proper  drainage  is  not  provided.  A  quarter  of  a  century 
ago  it  was  predicted  by  Dr.  Hilgard  that  we  must  provide  against  this 
danger  in  California,  and  the  matter  was  duly  written  up  and  pub- 


14  UNIVERSITY   OF    CALIFORNIA — EXPERIMENT    STATION" 

lished,  but  no  organization  existed  at  that  time,  nor  has  ever  existed, 
which  was  sufficiently  far-sighted  to  take  up  this  problem  and  provide, 
while  time"  yet  remained,  for  the  ultimate  consideration  and  disposal 
of  this  very  imminent  danger  to  our  state.  Perhaps  the  greatest 
problem  facing  rural  California  is  the  drainage  of  the  interior  valleys 
now  coming  under  irrigation.  The  farm  bureaus  can  furnish  an 
agency  which  will  look  far  ahead  and  which  will  promote  the  bettering 
of  country  life  upon  a  more  permanent  basis  than  the  needs  of  today 
and  next  year. 

Again,  I  believe,  that  the  farm  bureaus  may  well  take  as  one  of 
their  chief  purposes  the  proposal  to  make  rural  civilization  as  efficient 
and  satisfying  as  city  civilization  by  the  creation  within  their  boun- 
daries of  those  necessary  appurtenances  to  successful  country  life  that 
come  through  governmental  agencies.  By  that  I  mean  such  things  as 
good  roads,  good  schools,  equable  taxation,  and  the  repression  of  crime 
and  immorality.  I  believe  that  those  farm  bureaus  in  California  which 
have  encouraged  the  building  of  permanent  roads  have  done  more 
perhaps  than  even  they  have  realized.  They  have  brought  into  being 
a  community  asset  which  will  live  after  those  who  have  promoted  it 
are  long  gone  away. 

Persons  will  arise  who  will  tell  us  that  the  farm  bureau  most  of  all 
needs  to  start  a  department  store  where  hats,  shoes,  and  cookstoves 
will  be  sold.  They  will  say  this  because  they  believe  some  local  shop- 
keeper is  deriving  an  unjust  profit.  Others  will  tell  us  that  the  farm 
bureau  should  elect  some  man  governor,  and  thereby  cause  to  be  rectified 
all  injustices  of  government  and  all  defects  of  politics.  Still  others 
will  cry  that  the  farm  bureaus  attack  the  labor  problem  in  such  a  way 
as  to  create  immediately  a  sort  of  rural  industrial  slavery  whereby 
yellow  or  brown  men  will  work  for  scanty  wages  to  raise  up  a  landed 
class  of  aristocrats.  But  I  do  not  believe  that  the  farm  bureau  is  in 
any  danger  of  selling  its  position  for  such  a  mess  of  pottage.  Such 
voices  will  be  in  the  small  minority,  and  the  conservative,  sober  judg- 
ment of  the  farmers  will  continue  to  point  out  the  wise  course. 

And,  finally,  I  believe  that  the  farm  bureau  must  clearly  compre- 
hend that  in  order  to  be  an  agent  of  progress  it  must  be  a  vehicle  of 
work.  It  must  have  a  definite  programme  and  projects.  It  must  lay 
out  a  line  of  attack  for  the  problems  to  be  solved,  and  it  will  proceed 
precisely  as  fast  as  its  members  are  willing  to  put  their  time  and  at- 
tention into  the  solving  of  those  problems.  No  association  is  worth 
its  salt  unless  it  does  something.  The  passing  of  resolutions  is  seldom 
effective  as  a  means  of  progress.  Many  organizations  have  been 
wrecked  on  that  rock.  They  have  gradually  worked  themselves  up 
into  a  state  of  mind  whereby  they  somehow  felt  that  through  the 
passing  of  resolutions  they  caused  the  world  to  advance.    They  would 


Circular  209  the  function  of  the  Farm  Bureau  15 

spend  a  day  appointing  committees  and  wrangling  over  the  wording 
of  flowing  sentences,  and  then  go  home  with  the  glowing  sense  that  they 
had  accomplished  something ;  but  the  sun  would  set  upon  a  world  that 
was  no  different  than  that  upon  which  it  had  risen. 

A  farm  bureau  to  be  effective  must  get  the  active  cooperative  in- 
terest and  work  of  its  entire  membership.  No  single  board  of  directors 
can  carry  a  farm  bureau  forward  to  success.  The  more  persons  in- 
volved in  the  solving  of  the  problem  the  more  certain  it  is  that  it  will 
be  solved  correctly  and  the  quicker  it  will  reach  that  solution.  I  be- 
lieve that  the  work  of  the  farm  bureau  should  be  built  up  not  only  on 
a  county  programme  of  work  but  on  a  community  and  even  an  indi- 
vidual programme  of  work  where  members  from  the  farm  bureau 
should  have  laid  out  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  not  only  what  part 
their  county  is  going  to  take  in  the  programme  for  agricultural 
progress,  not  only  what  work  the  farm  bureau  center  is  going  to  do 
and  what  projects  it  is  going  to  further,  but  what  they,  themselves,  are 
going  to  do  to  aid  in  this  programme — what  part  they  are  going  to 
take  in  the  enterprise.  Built  upon  such  a  basis,  the  farm  bureau  will 
become  the  most  potent  factor  in  rural  life.  Already  we  are  begin- 
ning to  see  the  progress  that  has  been  made.  The  public  is  confused 
and  perplexed  by  the  multiplicity  of  agencies  which  exist,  some  of 
which  spend  their  time  passing  resolutions  or  writing  up  in  the  news- 
papers what  they  intend  to  do.  Glance  for  a  moment  at  your  news- 
paper column  and  see  the  wide  diversity  there  is  in  the  published 
material  of  that  which  is  promised  from  that  which  is  accomplished. 
So  many  investigations  are  to  be  made,  so  many  criminals  are  to  be 
caught,  so  many  irrigation  districts  and  roads  and  railways  are  to  be 
built — but  how  few  announcements  you  see  that  they  have  been  built — 
that  they  have  been  brought  into  existence.  Fortunately  thus  far  the 
farm  bureau  has  advertised  itself  by  accomplishment  rather  than  prom- 
ises. It  tells  more  about  what  it  has  done  than  what  it  intends  to  do. 
It  has  concerned  itself  with  getting  concrete  results  that  were  demon- 
strational  in  terms  of  dollars  and  cents,  and  in  homes  and  farms  made 
better.  I  hope  our  farm  bureaus  may  never  be  confused  in  their  per- 
ception of  the  problem,  which  is  not  to  delineate  a  policy  for  some  other 
institution  to  further,  but  to  attack  the  problem  themselves  first  hand 
and  to  bring  it  to  consummation. 

Already  our  farm  bureau  centers  are  becoming  a  real  community 
meeting  place  and  focal  point  for  progressive  ideas.  The  farm  bureaus 
have  always  maintained  themselves  as  a  public  forum  towards  which 
all  persons  may  come  to  present  their  cases  to  the  rural  people.  I  hope 
that  the  farm  bureaus  will  always  so  remain  and  will  not  be  afraid  to 
hear  any  one  who  has  a  straight  story  to  tell. 


16  UNIVERSITY   OF    CALIFORNIA — EXPERIMENT   STATION 

I  look  forward  to  the  time  when  the  farm  bureau  center  shall  be- 
come a  community  center  in  the  real  sense.  I  see  there  a  rural  school 
with  an  auditorium  to  seat  the  people  of  the  country-side ;  that  in  that 
school  guided,  aided,  and  advised  by  the  farm  bureau,  there  will  be  boys 
and  girls  who  take  a  real  interest  in  their  work  because  they,  too,  are 
a  part  of  that  farm  bureau  center;  that  the  school  will  be  manned  by 
an  agricultural  teacher  employed  twelve  months  in  the  year  who  sees 
beyond  the  walls  of  the  building  and  who  looks  out  to  the  farm  and 
fields  not  only  as  a  means  of  inspiration  but  as  a  laboratory  for  his 
work.  There  will  be  a  woman  employed  as  a  teacher  of  the  subjects 
that  center  about  the  home,  who  will  gather  to  herself  a  group  of  girls 
who  will  be  taught  how  to  make  the  homes  of  the  community  as  efficient 
as  they  can  be  developed ;  that  in  that  school  there  will  be  a  branch  of 
the  county  free  library  under  our  California  system  which  will  give 
any  man  the  book  he  wants  at  the  time  he  wants  it,  and  there  shall  be 
a  community  kitchen  and  dining-room  where  the  people  can  get  to- 
gether for  picnics  and  suppers.  In  the  simple  auditorium  will  be  held 
the  farm  bureau  center  meetings  and  other  committee  meetings  from 
night  to  night  and  from  week  to  week.  Back  of  that  farm  bureau 
center,  focused  in  the  county-seat,  there  will  be  a  farm  advisor,  a  home 
demonstration  agent,  and  a  county  club  leader  acting  as  the  agents 
for  those  agricultural  institutions  which  are  gathering  the  facts  for 
the  progress  of  country  life,  and  from  that  country  life  will  come  the 
wisest,  most  public  spirited  and  ablest  farmers  as  directors  of  the 
county  farm  bureau  who  will  sit  together  and  plan  out  with  the  aid 
and  direction  of  the  other  farmers  of  the  county  the  plans  and  projects 
which  will  make  for  the  betterment  of  the  folk  who  live  on  farms.  Such 
agencies  as  this  gathered  together  into  a  state  organization  for  mutual 
helpfulness  and  occasional  meetings  from  all  the  states  in  a  national 
organization  where  experience  and  plans  may  be  exchanged,  will  be  to 
America  the  greatest  governor  of  the  body  politic.  On  this  will  be 
builded  for  all  time  a  sane  and  progressive  country  life  which  will  give 
to  the  cities  of  America  that  basis  for  confidence  and  cooperation  which 
they  have  a  right  to  expect  and  which  the  farmers  are  willing  to  extend. 

What,  then,  is  the  function  of  the  farm  bureau?  To  make  better 
farms  and  better  homes  in  the  open  country. 


UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA     AGRICULTURAL    EXPERIMENT   STATION 
COLLEGE   OF  AGRICULTURE  BENJ'  'DE  WHEELER-  p«-«"t 

THOMAS    FORSYTH    HUNT,    Dean  and  Director 
BERKELEY  H.    E.    VAN    NORMAN.   Vice-Director   and    Dean 

University  Farm  School 


CIRCULAR  No.  209 
March,  1919 

THE  FUNCTION  OF  THE  FARM  BUREAU 

By  B.  H.  CEOCHEEON 


The  time  has  come  when  the  farm  bureau  should  pause  to  consider 
what  is  its  real  function  in  the  life  of  the  nation.  At  present  the  farm 
bureau  movement,  the  greatest  organization  of  farmers  that  the  world 
has  ever  seen,  is  very  certain  that  it  is  on  its  way,  but  somewhat, 
undecided  whither  it  is  going. 

Farm  bureaus  are  a  natural  outgrowth  of  the  desire  of  American 
farmers  to  do  two  things.  First  to  unite  together  for  mutual  self-help 
and  co-operation  along  any  line  that  may  be  needed,  and  second,  to 
get  into  close  and  intimate  touch  with  those  institutions  of  public 
enterprise  and  of  the  government  which  have  accumulated  the  infor- 
mation necessary  to  make  farm  life  more  prosperous. 

Therefore  we  may  well  stop  to  consider  the  real  purpose  of  the 
farm  bureau  and  what  phase  of  farm  bureau  work  should  be  most 
emphasized  in  the  future.  In  so  doing  I  desire  only  to  consider  what 
is  best  for  the  farmers  of  California.  Primarily  I  am  not  interested 
in  the  farm  bureau  unless  it  is  the  best  type  of  organization  for  the 
farmers  of  the  state  and  unless,  in  turn,  it  will  do  its  part  towards 
making  American  homes  and  lives  better  and  set  this  nation  upon  a 
still  firmer  foundation  than  it  now  possesses.  I  am  interested  in  farm 
bureaus  only  as  an  aid  toward  that  end  and  if  a  more  efficient  organ- 
ization can  be  devised  to  carry  on  this  work  the  farm  bureau  should 
give  place  to  it.  I  am  interested  far  less  in  the  perpetuation  of  farm 
advisors  or  of  other  agricultural  extension  work.  I  consider  them 
only  in  relation  to  the  welfare  of  the  people  of  this  state  and  country. 
They  have  no  other  function  than  to  aid  the  development  of  rural  life, 
which  in  turn  is  the  greatest  stabilizer  in  our  national  existence. 

The  farm  bureaus  started  in  several  states  under  various  names 
and  under  plans  which  were  widely  divergent.  Even  to-day  the  farm 
bureaus  of  America  vary  so  widely  in  their  administration,  organiza- 
tion, projects,  and  development,  as  to  be  almost  unrecognizable  as 
similar  organizations  occupied  in  similar  work.  This  is  chiefly  because 
the  farm  bureau  was  new  and  untried  so  that  in  the  beginning  no 

An  address  delivered  before  the  Annual  Farm  Bureaus  Conference.  Printed  by  request  of 
the  Conference. 


one  had  the  foresight  or  temerity  to  set  down  on  paper  a  definite 
method  of  work  or  a  definite  plan  for  the  fulfillment  of  those  objects 
which  were  in  the  minds  of  all  farmers.  The  experience  of  the  last 
few  years  has  been  so  scanty  that  even  now  we  hesitate  to  say  that 
any  one  plan  is  best  among  the  several  that  have  been  advanced  or  that 
any  one  specific  sphere  of  work  is  alone  the  function  of  the  farm 
bureau. 

California  was  somewhat  fortunate  among  the  states  in  that  its 
farm  bureau  movement  developed  later  than  in  some  others  and  had 
something  of  a  background  upon  which  to  plan  out  the  type  of  organ- 
ization and  method  of  work.  A  definite  constitution  and  by-laws  were 
laid  down  in  the  fall  of  1914,  which  have  been  almost  unanimously 
followed  by  the  thirty-seven  counties  organized  during  the  past  five 
years.  Thus,  in  California,  we  have  a  unity  of  organization  which  is 
coincident  in  all  the  counties  and  which  articulates  right  down  to 
the  farm  bureau  center  itself.  The  particular  features  of  the  Cali- 
fornia type  of  organization  which  are  most  worthy  of  note  are  those 
which  stress  and  emphasize  the  rural  community  as  the  unit  of  organ- 
ization. These  communities,  or  farm  bureau  centers,  are  represented 
upon  the  board  of  directors.  Necessarily,  therefore,  that  board  itself 
represents  the  entire  county  or  those  portions  thereof  that  have 
membership  in  the  farm  bureau. 

Another  type  of  farm  bureau  organization  prevalent  in  some  other 
states,  contemplates  no  community  organizations  or  farm  bureau 
centers.  In  that  type,  the  board  of  directors  represents  lines  of  work 
or  projects  and  are  preferably  chosen  at  or  near  the  county-seat  in 
order  that  they  may  easily  get  together  for  conference.  This,  it  seems 
to  us,  tends  to  stress  the  county-seat  or  chief  city  of  the  county  as 
the  emanating  point  for  the  work  rather  than  the  rural  community 
which  is  the  natural  gathering  place  of  the  people  who  live  on  farms. 
Indeed,  it  was  felt  in  California  that  there  was  some  danger  in  having 
the  board  of  directors  consist  of  men  who  largely  came  from  that 
central  point  and  were  interested  in  special  projects  since  they  might 
not  truly  represent  the  whole  farm  population  of  the  county. 

At  first  in  some  states,  the  farm  bureaus  were  not  promoted  by  the 
agricultural  colleges.  They  were  looked  upon  somewhat  askance  as  a 
dangerous  and  untried  procedure  which  might  wreck  the  move  for 
agricultural  extension  being  promoted  by  the  federal  and  state  gov- 
ernments by  means  of  paid  extension  workers.  Later  this  fear  passed 
away  and  the  colleges  of  agriculture  came  to  welcome  the  farm 
bureau  as  they  saw  more  fully  its  possibilities  of  development  and 
the  progress  which  might  be  made  in  agricultural  extension  work 
when  it  was  furthered  by  a  large  body  of  farmers  who  worked  in  close 
co-operation  with  it.     However,  in  this  state,  the  value  of  the  farm 


bureau  has  been  fully  recognized  from  the  beginning.  Therefore  the 
administration  of  this  college  has  required  every  county  that  desired 
the  services  of  a  farm  advisor  to  first  form  a  county  farm  bureau  in 
which  there  were  20  per  cent  of  the  farmers  in  membership  as  an 
attest  of  their  desire  for  the  work  of  the  farm  advisor  amongst  them. 
The  wisdom  of  this  has  been  proven  by  experience  in  that  no  county 
of  California  has  ever  permanently  abandoned  the  work  which  has 
gone  steadily  forward  from  that  time  until  now  when  85  per  cent  of 
the  farmers  of  the  state  are  represented  in  counties  which  have  farm 
bureaus.  It  is  evident  that  the  small  residue  of  15  per  cent  could 
easily  be  encouraged  to  consummate  their  organization  if  there  were 
any  hope  of  funds  to  give  them  a  farm  advisor  for  their  service. 

In  organizing  the  farm  bureau  the  problem  necessarily  became 
at  once :  what  was  this  new  farm  bureau  to  do ;  what  was  to  be  its 
sphere  of  work;  how  far  was  it  to  go  in  the  various  movements  re- 
quested by  farmers;  and  finally,  what  was  to  be  the  relation  between 
that  farm  bureau  and  the  government  and  the  state  agent  placed  in 
the  county  to  work  on  the  extension  of  agriculture  ?  These  problems 
in  part  are  still  before  us.  Let  us  then  look  back  to  see  what  was 
the  original  conception  of  the  California  farm  bureau  both  as  to  its 
plan  of  organization  and  its  sphere  of  work. 

In  planning  the  California  type  of  farm  bureau  the  constitution 
was  very  carefully  written  so  that  no  federal  or  state  official  might 
have  any  direction  over  it.  The  organization  was  definitely  and  pur- 
posely placed  wholly  in  the  hands  of  farmers  elected  from  among  their 
fellow  membership  representing  agricultural  communities  of  the 
county  who  would  have  in  their  hands  the  whole  direction  and  deter- 
mination of  the  policies  of  the  farm  bureau.  The  belief  upon  which 
this  was  based  was  that  the  farmers  of  California  were  wholly  com- 
petent to  guide  their  own  affairs  and  that  provided  this  board  of 
directors  adequately  represented  the  wishes  of  the  members  of  their 
county,  there  would  be  no  doubt  either  of  the  definiteness  of  their 
plans  or  of  the  propriety  of  their  course  since  I  believed  essentially  in 
the  collective  wisdom  of  the  farmers  of  the  state.  In  order  that  these 
farm  bureau  directors  might  really  represent  the  wishes  of  their 
constituents  and  might  have  frequent  opportunity  to  gather  together 
their  desires  and  proposals,  it  was  planned  that  every  farm  bureau 
center  should  hold  a  meeting  once  a  month  at  which  they  might 
receive  from  their  director  the  report  of  the  last  directors'  meeting 
held  at  the  county  seat,  and  might  signify  to  him  their  wishes  and 
plans  for  the  future.  In  order  that  the  farm  advisor  working  with 
the  farm  bureau  might  have  the  benefit  of  the  opinions  and  knowledge 
expressed  and  that  he,  in  turn,  would  have  an  opportunity  for  getting 
his  advice  to  the  farm  bureau  centers,  it  was  planned  that  in  general 


he  should  be  present  at  their  meeting.  The  danger  in  this  was  recog- 
nized in  that  the  farmers  might  come  to  feel  that  because  the  farm 
advisor  was  there  that  it  was  the  farm  advisor's  meeting  and  not  the 
farm  bureau  meeting.  It  was  believed,  however,  that  by  proper  direc- 
tion and  supervision  from  the  central  office  the  farm  advisor  could 
be  held  in  his  proper  capacity  as  related  to  the  farm  bureau  and 
could  be  brought  to  understand  and  clearly  bear  in  mind  that  he  had 
no  other  function  so  far  as  the  policies  of  the  farm  bureau  were 
concerned  than  to  give  advice  and  consultation  when  it  was  asked. 

Persons  who  were  conversant  with  farmers'  meetings  told  us  that 
it  would  not  be  possible  to  continue  to  gather  indefinitely  the  people 
of  any  given  community  at  a  meeting  once  a  month  because  they 
would  soon  be  tired  of  such  a  gathering  and  would  gradually 
stop  attending.  There  was  no  experience  upon  which  to  base  this 
conclusion  except  that  various  itinerant  agencies  such  as  farmers' 
institutes,  had  found  their  attendance  decreasing  during  the  past 
generation.  My  belief  was  that  if  a  definite  and  permanent  organiza- 
tion could  be  formed  which  would  have  a  programme  of  work  based 
upon  concrete  and  feasible  projects  for  the  development  of  the  com- 
munity, the  county,  the  state,  and  the  nation  that  the  people  would 
continue  to  come  because  of  the  efficiency  of  the  organization  and 
because  of  their  interest  and  part  in  the  work  it  was  doing.  This 
belief  has  been  amply  borne  out  by  the  experience  of  the  past  five 
years  wherein  the  average  attendance  at  farm  bureau  centers  in  the 
state  has  steadily  but  slowly  gained  and  while  it  was  satisfactory  in 
the  beginning,  it  is  still  more  so  at  this  date  when  the  average  attend- 
ance at  farm  bureau  centers  in  California  is  forty-one  persons.  Not 
only  have  these  farm  bureau  centers  continued  to  increase  in  atten- 
tion and  interest,  but  they  have  been  permanent  in  their  location,  the 
percentage  of  those  that  have  passed  away  being  so  small  as  to  be 
almost  negligible  while  the  number  of  them  has  now  grown  until 
there  are  429  such  community  centers  in  California. 

In  all  this  time,  however,  the  activity  has  largely  been  one  of 
organization  and  development.  The  most  interesting  feature  of  this 
organization  was  that  we  did  not  at  first  form  a  state-wide  farm  bureau 
or  a  state  board  of  direction  wherefrom  it  was  brought  down  to  the 
counties  and  later  to  the  communities  and  ultimately  to  the  people, 
but  that  one  by  one  these  farm  bureau  centers  were  formed  in  Califor- 
nia by  the  people  themselves  wherever  there  was  a  group  of  persons 
who  felt  it  desirable  to  get  together  for  their  mutual  development 
and  improvement.  The  organization  has  grown  from  the  ground 
up  and  consequently  is  solidly  set  thereon.  I  do  not  believe  that  any 
other  factor  than  an  absolutely  unwise  and  malicious  direction  could 
now  wreck  the  farm  bureau  movement  in  California. 


The  very  nature  of  the  farm  bureau  under  the  California  plan  has 
made  for  a  wide  autonomy  of  the  farm  bureau  centers  whereby  they 
have  developed  their  own  programme  and  projects  of  work.  While 
the  method  under  which  the  farm  bureau  centers  are  organized,  main- 
tained and  directed  is  the  same  throughout  the  state,  yet  because  the 
problems  of  the  communities  differ,  the  projects  they  have  stressed  are 
widely  divergent.  This  was  all  expressly  provided  and  desired.  The 
system  of  organization  has  worked  out  as  planned  with  astonishing 
success. 

But  how  about  the  purpose — the  function  of  the  organization? 
Was  there  a  definite  conception  of  what  the  farm  bureau  should  do? 
May  I  read  you  what  was  proposed  as  the  function  of  the  California 
farm  bureau  at  the  time  of  its  inception  to  see  whether  we  have  in 
any  way  strayed  from  this  original  plan  of  action,  and  if  so,  whether 
this  divergence  is  wise  or  unwise : 

A  farm  bureau  is  an  organization  of  farmers  and  ranchers  who  combine  to 
promote  agriculture  through  co-operative  study  of  farm  conditions. 

Many  types  of  farmers '  organizations  have  long  been  existent.  There  have 
been  farmers'  clubs,  granges,  institutes,  unions,  alliances,  and  others.  Some  of 
these  have  been  more  or  less  successful,  but  many  have  passed  away.  Their  failure 
has  usually  been  due  to  one  or  more  of  the  following  causes:  (1)  lack  of  a  distinct 
purpose  to  fill  a  definite  need;  (2)  lack  of  membership  to  sufficiently  represent  all 
classes  of  farmers  and  types  of  farming;  (3)  lack  of  co-operation  with  other 
similar  farm  organizations;    (4)  lack  of  continuous  and  unselfish  leadership. 

The  farm  bureau  is  distinct  from  all  of  these.  It  is  not  primarily  a  social 
organization;  neither  is  it  essentially  to  unite  farmers  so  as  to  lower  prices  of 
stuffs  bought  and  to  raise  prices  of  products  sold.  It  is  formed  to  bring  together 
for  mutual  eo-operation  those  farmers  who  want  to  investigate  the  fundamental 
problems  that  are  involved  in  production  on  their  farms. 

Every  state  and  territory  has  at  least  one  ' '  experiment  farm ' '  supported  by 
federal  and  state  funds.  These  have  been  exceedingly  valuable  because  the  results 
therefrom  were  noted  by  men  whose  business  and  interest  it  was  to  observe.  The 
acreages  of  these  farms  were  small;  their  crops  were  often  meager — and  yet  they 
have  been  worth  millions  beyond  their  cost  because  the  records  of  productions  and 
the  conditions  under  which  they  were  grown  were  known  and  noted. 

Many  of  our  farm  problems  are  already  solved  on  the  farms  of  the  nation. 
Individuals  have  found  the  solution  of  vexing  questions  that  are  agitating  the 
experiment  stations  and  agricultural  colleges.  But  these  solutions  usually  fall 
out  of  sight  unnoted  or  are  known  only  to  the  man  on  whose  farm  they  occur. 
If  these  unknown  and  unnoted  experiments  could  be  gathered  they  would  at  once 
add  much  to  our  view  of  agriculture. 

In  America  there  are  on  the  average  more  than  100  000  farms  to  each  "  experi- 
ment farm."  Obviously,  if  the  results  on  some  small  percentage  of  these  could 
be  viewed  from  the  same  standpoint  as  at  the  experiment  farm,  the  benefits  would 
enormously  outnumber  the  records  achieved  by  the  experiment  stations.  It  is,  of 
course,  impossible  to  gather  all  this  material  or  to  note  all  the  changing  conditions 
on  farms.  But  it  may  be  possible  to  gather  together  into  one  county  organization 
the  wide-awake  and  interested  farmers  who  will  compare  their  results  with  those 


of  others  and,  in  a  more  or  less  scientific  way,  plan  out  experiments  and  demon- 
strations on  their  own  farms.     Such  is  a  farm  bureau. 

Fundamentally,  then,  a  farm  bureau  for  the  county  can  be  collectively  a  sort 
of  giant  experiment  station  with  several  hundred  observers  who  hold  a  monthly 
caucus  to  compare  results. 

The  farm  bureau  has  a  trained  man  to  aid  it:  the  farm  advisor  (see  Circular 
133).  It  is  his  business  to  help  interpret  results,  to  point  out  new  lines  of  work, 
and  to  deduce  conclusions  from  the  evidence  at  hand.  The  farm  bureau  can  be 
of  greater  value  to  the  county  than  the  farm  advisor.  Together,  they  can  be  of 
more  benefit  than  either  alone. 

Other  activities  may  concern  the  farm  bureau  besides  local  research  into 
agricultural  problems. 

The  farm  bureau  may  be  a  sort  of  rural  chamber  of  commerce  and  thus  be 
the  guardian  of  rural  affairs.  It  can  take  the  lead  in  agtitation  for  good  roads, 
for  better  schools,  and  for  cheaper  methods  of  buying  and  selling.  Various  sub- 
sidiary organizations  of  the  farm  bureau,  known  as  farm  bureau  departments, 
may  be  formed,  thus  linking  together  persons  of  similar  or  identical  interests. 
Perhaps,  most  of  all,  the  farm  bureau  can  help  promote  the  social  institutions  of 
country  life.  Some  rural  neighbors  are  so  starved  for  recreational  meetings  that 
they  will  come  out  to  anything  from  a  patent-medicine  show  to  a  school  meeting. 
The  farm  bureau  can  help  put  more  recreation  into  rural  life.  Every  country 
neighborhood  ought  to  have  some  social  gathering  at  least  once  a  week.  It  is 
almost  as  much  needed  as  the  spiritual  congregations  at  the  church,  or  the  educa- 
tional assemblages  of  the  children  at  the  school-house. 

But  very  surely  and  insistently,  the  farm  bureau  is  not  first  and  foremost  of 
these  purposes — good  and  desirable  as  they  may  be.  Perhaps,  the  farm  bureau 
can  help  to  buy  cheaper  and  better  seeds,  can  help  to  boost  the  local  socials,  can 
encourage  the  faltering  school  teacher,  can  get  out  and  talk  for  good  roads — but 
its  first  and  surest  function  is  to  increase  the  local  knowledge  of  agricultural 
fact. 

This  was  written  in  1915  as  a  part  of  the  University  circular  on 
the  "County  Farm  Bureau.'  As  I  look  over  the  list  of  farm  bureau 
activities  I  regard  it  as  remarkable  that  we  have  so  clearly  followed 
the  lines  indicated  in  the  statement  there  laid  down  and  from  my 
rather  intimate  knowledge  of  the  work  of  the  California  farm  bureaus, 
I  stand  here  to-day  to  say  to  you  that  the  farm  bureaus  of  California 
up  to  this  time  and  this  point  have  stood  solidly  behind  that  platform 
expressed  in  those  few  paragraphs.  In  other  words,  the  California 
farm  bureaus  have  been  largely  an  educational  agency  in  the  broadest 
sense  of  the  term.  Their  greatest  contribution  to  the  welfare  of  the 
people  has  been  their  dissemination  in  an  organized  way  of  better 
methods  of  farm  life  as  they  have  seen  it.  Occasionally,  when  they 
have  seen  the  need  of  it,  they  have  gone  from  this  to  take  up  the  better 
handling  of  economic  problems  as  business  concerns,  or  as  the  pro- 
moters of  business  concerns.  Personally,  I  have  believed — and  believe 
to-day — that  it  is  a  proper  function  of  the  farm  bureau  to  set  up 
business  relations  when  they  can  do  so  in  a  better  way — and  by  that. 
I  mean,  better  in  the  broad  sense  for  all  those  concerned — better  than 


existent  agencies  which  are  already  doing  the  work.  I  do  not  believe 
that  the  farm  bureau  should  be  an  agency  which  attempts  to  squeeze 
out  the  other  members  of  the  rural  community  or  which  should  set 
up  a  sort  of  agricultural  trust  to  manage  and  operate  all  rural  affairs. 
I  am  glad  to  say  that  the  farm  bureaus  in  California  have  never  per- 
mitted this  and  that  their  actions  in  the  past  five  years  have  shown 
such  remarkable  judgment  as  to  wholly  justify  the  original  preface 
that  the  collective  wisdom  of  the  farmers  of  California  enabled  them 
to  guide  competently  their  own  affairs. 

I  have  conceded  that  the  chief  function  of  the  farm  bureau  is  that 
of  an  educational  agency  and  I  have  testified  that  the  farm  bureaus 
in  California  have  been  chiefly  an  educational  factor  in  the  past.  I 
believe  that  this  should  be  because  most  of  our  problems  are  first 
educational  in  nature,  although  they  may  later  proceed  from  that  to 
the  practice  of  what  that  education  teaches.  I  may  be  permitted  to 
quote  one  or  two  instances  of  this. 

Three  years  ago  the  hog  market  situation  in  California  was  unsatis- 
factory to  both  the  farmers  who  produced  the  hogs  and  the  packers 
who  bought  the  hogs  and  an  unintelligent  survey  of  the  surface  indica- 
tions might  have  led  some  to  suppose  that  what  was  immediately 
needed  was  to  set  up  some  sort  of  a  machine  whereby  the  packing 
companies  would  immediately  become  displaced  by  some  sort  of  a 
farmers'  organization  which  would  undertake  to  take  the  hogs  off  the 
farm  and  deliver  them  in  cured  form  to  the  people.  Such  a  scheme 
would  have  required  an  enormous  amount  of  money  and  might  have 
been  doubtful  of  success,  depending  not  only  on  the  type  of  organiza- 
tion and  a  high  class  management  with  expert  knowledge  of  packing 
and  selling  practices,  but  also  upon  the  antagonism  and  strife  in  the 
trade  which  would  have  ensued.  Instead  of  that  an  educational  idea 
was  brought  from  Australia  by  one  of  the  farm  advisors  based  on 
the  principle  that  the  trouble  with  the  hog  market  in  California  was 
caused  by  three  things :  first,  the  farmers  grew  poor  hogs ;  second,  they 
sold  them  in  ungraded  and  undesirable  sized  lots,  and  third,  there  was 
no  free  competition  in  their  purchase.  The  result  of  this  was  the 
inauguration  of  a  demonstration  of  the  auction  sales  system  as  a 
method  of  marketing  hogs.  This  auction  sale  brought  the  hogs 
together  from  the  farmers  to  a  central  point.  A  committee  of  farmers 
graded  them  and  placed  them  in  carload  lots.  Buyers  came  to  that 
place  and  in  the  presence  of  the  farmers  bought  the  hogs  in  an  open 
market  for  the  highest  bid.  The  result  was  that  the  packers  got  the 
kind  of  hogs  they  wanted,  in  the  right  sized  lots,  at  the  highest  prices 
they  could  afford  to  pay.  The  farmers  got  the  best  prices  obtainable 
in  the  open  market  for  the  best  hogs  and  the  man  who  grew  good  hogs 
received  a  premium  over  him  who  raised  poor  hogs.     The  plan  sue- 


8 

ceeded  well  because  it  served  a  real  need  in  the  community  and 
because  it  showed  both  the  farmers  and  the  packers  the  real  status 
of  the  hog  market.  It  has  swept  like  wildfire  over  many  of  the 
counties  of  California  and  although  still  in  its  youth  a  quarter  of  a 
million  dollars'  worth  of  hogs  are  sold  each  month  under  this  system 
which,  on  the  average,  give  at  least  1  cent  per  pound  more  to  the 
farmers  for  their  hogs  than  ever  was  obtained  before.  The  packers 
say  that  the  hogs  are  better  in  quality  than  were  ever  known  in  the 
state  and  the  farmers  say  that  they  get  nearer  the  prices  they  think 
they  deserve  than  they  have  ever  experienced.  It  is  assumed  that 
even  the  small  number  of  auction  sales  held  in  the  state  last  year  saved 
a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars  which  went  directly  into  the  pockets  of 
the  farmers  of  the  state.  This  was  accomplished  without  setting  up 
any  elaborate  machinery  and  without  causing  the  farmers  to  go  deep 
in  their  pockets  to  support  an  expensive  plant  which  might  never  pay. 
It  was  made  possible  because  educational  thought  had  been  brought 
to  bear  upon  the  problem  and  the  farmers,  in  turn,  were  advised  of 
every  change  in  the  situation  and  of  the  best  methods  for  getting  the 
results  that  they  desired. 

I  need  only  mention  one  more  result  which  is  so  large  and  far- 
reaching  as  to  quite  beggar  description,  namely  that  of  the  war 
emergency  campaigns  conducted  by  the  farm  bureaus  at  the  instance 
of  the  University  of  California  and  the  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture.  These  campaigns  sought  to  advise  farmers  what  crops 
were  needed  for  the  successful  prosecution  of  the  war  which,  of  course, 
meant  the  crops  that  would  be  in  demand  and  which  thereafter  might 
be  expected  to  bring  a  fair  price.  Sometimes  when  these  campaigns 
were  launched,  it  was  difficult  for  farmers  to  see  wherein  they  would 
derive  a  profit  but  because  they  were  based  upon  a  real  knowledge  of 
the  conditions  of  the  world's  markets  and  because  furthermore  they 
took  into  consideration  the  promotion  of  the  permanent  agriculture 
of  the  state,  each  one  was  founded  upon  a  real  knowledge  of  condi- 
tions. An  educatinal  institution,  the  farm  bureau,  became  the  agency 
through  which  each  campaign  was  furthered  in  the  county.  Farmers 
planted  wheat  although  the  price  was  low  but  when  that  wheat  came 
to  be  harvested,  the  price  was  higher  than  that  of  barley  and  those 
that  had  wheat  and  had  followed  the  advice  of  the  farm  bureau,  found 
no  difficulty  in  their  marketing  problems.  Farmers  grew  hogs  in 
response  to  the  hog  campaign  and  while  it  did  not  then  look  possible 
to  raise  hogs  at  a  profit,  by  the  time  the  hogs  were  fed  and  grown 
the  price  of  feed  had  been  so  reduced  and  the  price  of  hogs  so  advanced 
that  the  farmers  throughout  the  state  found  that  they  had  grown 
them  at  a  profit.  In  turn,  the  sheep  campaign  was  furthered  because 
of  the  prospective  need  of  the  government  for  wool.     Where  sheep 


9 

were  economically  maintained  on  farms  they  resulted  not  only  in  an 
immediate  profit  to  the  farmers  but  in  a  permanent  addition  to  Cali- 
fornia agriculture.  Diversification  of  crops  which  was  furthered  by 
these  war  emergency  campaigns  upon  a  sound  economic  basis  has 
lessened  unrest,  has  made  for  the  local  advancement  of  farm  man- 
agement in  its  right  sense,  and  has  bettered  the  condition  of  California 
farming  more  than  any  one  thing  in  the  last  ten  years.  Farmers  who 
were  not  in  touch  with  these  campaigns,  in  their  desire  to  help  the 
food  situation  of  the  government,  often  unwisely  grew  crops  which 
were  not  later  in  demand  and  which  consequently  they  could  not 
market.  Some  of  these  still  remain  .on  their  hands,  although  it  is 
hoped  that  the  difficulty  may  be  overcome  within  the  next  few  months. 
I  wish  only  to  point  out  that  the  farm  bureaus  in  California  have 
chiefly  used  educational  means  to  overcome  their  difficulties  and  in 
the  main  have  been  successful. 

Nevertheless,  after  all  is  said  and  done  there  does  remain  a  residue 
of  problems,  complications,  and  injustices  which  can  only  be  solved 
by  farmers'  organizations  going  ahead  to  better  their  conditions  in 
any  legitimate  way  that  seems  to  them  feasible.  I  am  perfectly  in 
accord  with  any  well  organized  and  considered  movement  of  the 
farmers  to  better  the  conditions  of  the  state,  and  therefore  of  the 
nation,  through  any  means  which  may  seem  most  feasible  and  desir- 
able to  the  united  judgment  of  the  farmers  of  the  state  as  expressed 
through  the  farm  bureaus.  I  believe  that  the  membership  and  direc- 
tion of  the  farm  bureau  is  so  representative  and  I  believe  that  the 
collective  judgment  of  those  who  live  on  the  land  is  so  correct  that  if 
the  farm  bureaus  are  given  a  full  opportunity  to  consider  rural  prob- 
lems and  to  understand  them  in  their  various  phases  they  cannot  go 
far  wrong.  Therefore,  I  have  entire  confidence  in  the  future  of  this 
organization  and  the  direction  it  will  take  provided  it  is  kept  as  at 
present,  so  that  the  far-spread  membership  of  20,000  may  express 
themselves  directly  through  their  representatives  on  the  policies  of 
the  organization.  If  there  is  to  be  a  state  farm  bureau  it  should  be 
as  democratic  and  representative  in  its  organization  as  are  those  of 
the  counties.  Its  affairs  should  not  be  handed  over  to  a  small  execu- 
tive committee,  but  should  be  managed  by  a  representative  from  every 
county.  So  long  as  the  farm  bureau  functions  as  a  democratic  insti- 
tution which  represents  all  parts  and  parcels  of  the  rural  body  politic 
there  need  be  no  fear  for  the  future. 

In  all  this  I  have  mentioned  but  seldom  the  county  farm  advisor 
who  has  been  the  ever-present  agent  to  aid  this  farm  bureau  in  its 
work.'  He  is  the  representative  of  the  federal  and  state  institutions 
of  agriculture  in  extending  their  work  in  the  counties  of  the  state 
and  nation.    Already  three  thousand  of  these  men  are  at  work  in  as 


10 

many  counties  of  the  nation  and  more  will  follow.  It  is  important 
that  their  position  should  be  understood  and  that  their  relation  to 
the  farm  bureau  should  be  clear,  in  order  that  we  should  not  be 
confused  in  our  minds  as  to  the  function  of  the  farm  bureau  in  dis- 
tinction from  that  of  the  farm  advisor.  These  two  have  worked  to- 
gether so  harmoniously  that  persons  are  likely  to  confuse  them.  I 
believe,  however,  that  the  future  of  this  work,  so  far  as  the  farm 
bureaus  are  concerned,  is  dependent  upon  the  drawing  of  a  clear 
distinction  between  the  work  of  the  farm  bureau  which  is  the  farmers' 
agency  and  that  of  the  farm  advisor  who  is  the  agent  of  the  state  and 
national  governmental  agencies. 

The  farm  advisor  is  placed  in  the  county  for  a  specific  purpose, 
which  is  to  extend  the  knowledge  which  the  agricultural  colleges  and 
experiment  stations  have  gained  through  the  intensive  research  work 
of  the  investigators  who  are  behind  them.  He  is  the  field  agent  of 
the  agricultural  forces  of  the  nation.  As  such  he  does  not  represent 
the  farm  bureau  nor  is  he  directed  by  the  farm  bureau,  but  rather 
he  is  maintained  as  closely  as  possible  in  direct  relation  with  the 
federal  and  state  governments.     This  is  of  the  utmost  importance. 

The  value  of  the  farm  advisor  to  the  people  of  the  county  is  in 
having  the  unbiased  judgment  of  an  official  who  does  not  represent  a 
local  situation  or  a  local  constituency,  whose  appointment  and  whose 
term  of  office  is  not  dependent  upon  the  favor  of  local  politicians  or 
even  of  certain  influential  farmers,  but  who  represents  the  organized 
agricultural  forces  of  the  government  and  the  knowledge  that  they 
have  concerning  the  betterment  of  rural  life.  His  value  to  the  people 
is  in  precise  proportion  to  the  extent  to  which  he  knows  and  tells  the 
truth.  His  only  function  in  that  county  is  to  disseminate  the  subject 
matter  which  has  been  slowly  and  painstakingly  gathered  by  the  agri- 
cultural institutions,  which,  like  great  factories,  are  slowly  but  surely 
grinding  out  the  product  of  the  knowledge  of  life.  He  may  advise 
the  farm  bureau  upon  its  request  as  to  the  procedure  which  it  may 
best  follow.  He  may  co-operate  with  it  and  doubtless  will  co-operate 
with  it  on  most  of  the  projects  that  it  has  under  study,  but  in  so 
doing  he  must  be  clearly  defined  as  a  governmental  official  who  is 
working  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  people.  There  can  be  only  three 
possible  relationships  between  the  farm  bureau  and  the  farm 
advisor. 

The  first  would  be  to  put  the  farm  bureau  under  the  direction  of 
the  farm  advisor  and  to  have  the  farm  bureau  the  official  agency 
which  carried  out  the  projects  and  purposes  of  the  farm  advisor,  and 
therefore  of  those  officials  and  agencies  which  directed  the  farm  ad- 
visor. Such  a  plan  would  imply  that  the  farm  bureau  should  not 
undertake  any  projects  unless  approved  by  the  government.    As  such 


11 

it  is  clearly  inadvisable  unless  the  farmers  desire  to  exercise  no  initi- 
ative or  judgment  of  their  own. 

The  second  possible  relationship  is  that  the  farm  bureau  should 
direct  the  farm  advisor,  and  that  he  should  be  a  sort  of  secretary  or 
manager  for  that  farm  bureau  whereby  he  carried  out  the  proposals 
and  plans  of  the  organization.  Such  a  relationship  would  soon  result 
in  the  farm  advisor  losing  his  entire  significance  and  would  in  time 
prevent  his  support  from  public  funds. 

The  third  relationship  is  that  which  we  have  conceived  and  prac- 
ticed in  this  state,  wherein  the  farm  bureau  and  farm  advisor  are 
separate  and  distinct  instruments  for  the  furtherance  of  agriculture. 
The  farm  advisor  is  directed  by  the  federal  and  state  governments 
and  the  farm  bureau  is  directed  by  the  farmers  through  their  repre- 
sentatives who  are  directors  of  the  farm  bureau.  When  the  farm 
bureau  desires  to  carry  on  a  project  which  is  part,  or  wholly,  in  the 
nature  of  agricultural  extension,  then  that  part  may  properly  come 
within  the  scope  of  the  farm  advisor.  Then  they  mutually  draw  up 
a  project  or  written  plan  setting  forth  the  piece  of  work  they  are  to 
do,  the  means  by  which  they  are  to  do  it,  and  the  results  they  hope 
to  accomplish,  and  clearly  distinguish  which  part  in  it  is  to  be  done 
by  the  farm  advisor  and  which  part  by  the  farm  bureau.  This  brings 
them  into  active  co-operation  on  that  particular  project,  but  does  not 
necessarily  mean  that  the  farm  bureau  will  always  work  with  the 
farm  advisor,  nor  that  the  farm  advisor  is  compelled  thereby  to  join 
in  every  movement  that  the  farm  bureau  desires  to  further.  It  does 
not  hamper  the  farm  bureau  in  its  work  and  does  not  restrict  it  to 
those  purely  extension  activities  which  are  perhaps  its  chief  function 
but  from  which  it  may  from  time  to  time  depart  in  the  interests  of 
the  farmers  of  the  county.  I  believe  it  would  be  most  unwise  to 
attempt  to  put  the  farm  bureaus  of  this,  or  any  other  state,  under 
the  direction  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  or  of 
the  State  College  of  Agriculture.  I  think  it  would  deprive  them  of 
their  primary  reason  for  existence,  which  is  to  represent  the  free  and 
untrammeled  action  of  the  farmers  of  the  country.  Likewise,  I  believe 
it  would  be  most  unfortunate  for  the  farm  advisors  to  be  placed  under 
the  direction  of  the  farm  bureaus,  since  it  would  deprive  the  farm 
advisors  of  their  real  mission,  which  is  to  represent  the  state  and 
federal  agencies  of  agriculture.  Placed  under  the  direction  of  the 
farm  bureau,  the  farm  advisor  becomes  no  more  than  a  farm  bureau 
secretary  or  manager  and  can  have  no  more  than  local  usefulness  and 
a  local  boundary  to  his  horizon. 

I  have  regretted  to  observe  that  some  states  have  not  always  been 
clear  in  their  vision  of  either  the  farm  bureau  or  the  farm  advisor. 
They  have  confused  the  two  in  the  minds  of  the  people  and  have  some- 


.12 

times  handed  over  the  direction  of  the  farm  advisor  to  the  farm 
bureaus,  and  then  found  those  farm  bureaus  departing  from  a  strict 
line  of  educational  work  as  was  perhaps  necessary  in  the  county. 
This  brought  the  farm  advisor  and  the  farm  bureau  into  embarrassing 
relations,  and,  in  turn,  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 
and  the  college  of  agriculture  found  their  agents  embarking  upon 
projects  which  were  neither  federal  nor  state  functions  and  which 
could  not  properly  be  undertaken  by  their  agents  under  the  guise  of 
public  necessities. 

I  conceive  that  there  might  possibly  be  three  types  of  work  going 
on  in  a  county  at  once :  first,  that  work  which  the  farm  advisor  is 
carrying  on  alone  because  it  is  a  matter  in  which  only  the  federal  and 
state  governments  are  interested  and  which  directed  him  to  do  it ; 
second,  that  work  which  the  farm  bureau  is  carrying  on  alone  because 
it  is  a  matter  in  which  neither  the  federal  or  state  governments  desire 
to  enter  but  which  the  farmers  of  the  county  desire  to  promote  them- 
selves ;  and,  third,  that  type  of  activity  upon  which  the  farm  bureau 
and  the  farm  advisor  work  jointly  in  co-operation.  I  anticipate  that 
in  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  90  per  cent  of  the  activity  of  the  farm 
advisor  and  of  the  farm  bureau  will  be  undertaken  together  upon 
projects  to  which  they  mutually  agree.  They  will  work  together  be- 
cause in  the  ultimate  judgment  of  the  farmers  they  will  find  that  the 
solution  of  most  vexing  problems  is  to  be  accomplished  by  means  of 
the  use  of  agricultural  fact  applied  in  an  educational  way  to  the  local 
situation. 

What,  then,  are  to  be  the  constructive  problems  undertaken  in 
the  immediate  future  ?  I  will  venture  to  hazard  a  guess  at  a  few  of 
them.  I  believe  the  first  development  immediately  needed  is  to  make 
the  farm  bureau  the  agency  for  rural  progress  for  the  whole  family. 
In  the  beginning  farm  bureaus  were  predicated  on  the  basis  of  work 
with  men,  and  we  have  only  now  begun  to  see  that  it  is  not  only  with 
the  men  but  also  with  the  women  and  children  that  the  farm  bureaus 
should  work,  since  they,  too,  have  problems  that  need  solving,  and 
they,  too,  should  become  a  part  of  the  rural  organization  which  aims 
to  solve  those  problems.  We  are  just  now  testing  out  in  nine  counties 
the  value  of  the  Farm  Home  Department  of  the  Farm  Bureau,  in 
which  latter  women  join  exactly  on  the  same  basis  as  the  men,  but 
find  for  their  service  a  specially  organized  department  which  concerns 
itself  with  the  problem  of  the  home.  We  have  begun  to  realize  in 
some  small  degree  that  these  problems  are  even  more  vital  because 
more  intimate  with  the  actual  success  of  the  family  placed  on  the 
land.  Home  Demonstration  Agents,  who  are  women  specifically  trained 
to  bring  light  to  bear  on  these  problems,  are  placed  in  the  counties 
in  exactly  the  same  relation  to  this  work  as  are  farm  advisors. 


13, 

The  work  with  boys  and  girls  is  a  look  ahead  into  the  immediate 
future.  The  school  has  not  entirely  filled  its  place  as  an  educational 
agency  because  the  children  only  spend  five  hours  a  day  for  five  days 
a  week  in  school,  but  the  farm  bureau  can  step  in  where  the  school 
leaves  off  and  can  so  organize  the  boys  and  girls  that  they  may  grow 
up  with  the  vision  of  a  better  country  life  and  the  knowledge  of  the 
benefits  that  good  farming  and  good  home-making  may  mean  for  them. 
If  country  life  is  to  prosper  and  progress  we  must  keep  a  fair  share 
of  the  good  strong  American  children  in  the  rural  life  to  which  they 
wrere  brought  up.  I  believe  this  is  essential  not  only  for  the  perpetu- 
ation of  American  families  on  farms  but  for  the  real  happiness  and 
prosperity  of  these  children  themselves,  since  I  believe  that  under 
proper  conditions  there  is  no  better  place  to  spend  a  life  than  on  a 
good  American  farm.  Our  present  development  is  wholly  along  the 
line  of  agricultural  clubs  for  boys  and  girls.  I  think  I  foresee  the 
development  of  this  idea  until  it  will  integrate  in  the  various  phases 
of  child  life. 

It  may  be,  too,  that  farm  bureaus  will  desire  to  organize  still 
another  agency  as  an  adjunct ;  that  is,  they  have  already  to  some 
degree  the  agricultural  clubs  of  boys  from  ten  to  eighteen  who  are 
growing  crops  on  farms  on  a  competitive  basis  under  the  general  direc- 
tion of  the  farm  bureau.  They  also  have  the  main  division  of  the  farm 
bureau  which  concerns  itself  with  mature  men  and  women,  say,  from 
the  age  of  twenty-five  to  sixty  years.  It  may  become  desirable  to 
organize  a  Junior  Farm  Bureau  for  the  special  service  of  those  young 
men  between  eighteen  and  twenty-five,  taking  them  as  they  leave  the 
agricultural  clubs  and  carrying  them  forward  in  to  a  special  division 
of  the  farm  bureau  until  they  have  reached  maturity  and  are  on  their 
own  farms  when  they  go  into  the  main  farm  bureau  itself.  I  have 
dreamed  of  this  Junior  Farm  Bureau  as  the  link  that  would  connect 
the  boys  of  today  with  the  men  of  tomorrow,  and  had  gone  so  far  as 
to  detail  one  of  our  men  to  an  investigation  looking  towards  the 
formation  of  a  Junior  Farm  Bureau  in  one  county.  At  the  outbreak 
of  the  war  the  furtherance  of  that  branch  of  our  work  had,  of  course, 
to  be  discontinued,  since  the  army  took  precisely  the  group  of  young 
men  whom  we  were  planning  to  organize  into  this  agency.  "With  the 
demobilization  of  the  armies  we  may  turn  back  our  thoughts  to  this 
plan,  and  may  soon  hope  again  to  bring  this  up  before  you  as  a 
possible  development. 

I  believe  that  the  farm  bureau  should  be  the  far-sighted  agency 
to  plan  for  a  permanent  agriculture.  Up  to  this  time  we  have  been 
occupied  upon  plans  for  the  immediate  future.  We  need  to  provide 
a  means  of  making  farming  in  Calif rnia  a  permanently  successful 
enterprise.    I  need  not  dwell  upon  the  problems  connected  therewith, 


'14 

which  are  many  and  diverse,  but  will  merely  mention  one  of  these, 
which  is — and  I  almost  say  it  with  bated  breath — the  increase  of 
alkali  wherever  proper  drainage  is  not  provided.  A  quarter  of  a 
century  ago  it  was  predicted  by  Dr.  Hilgard  that  we  must  provide 
against  this  danger  in  California,  and  the  matter  was  duly  written  up 
and  published,  but  no  organization  existed  at  that  time,  nor  has  ever 
existed,  which  was  sufficiently  far-sighted  to  take  up  this  problem  and 
provide,  while  time  yet  remained,  for  the  ultimate  consideration  and 
disposal  of  this  very  imminent  danger  to  our  state.  Perhaps  the 
greatest  problem  facing  rural  California  is  the  drainage  of  the  interior 
valleys  now  coming  under  irrigation.  The  farm  bureaus  can  furnish 
an  agency  which  will  look  far  ahead  and  which  will  promote  the 
bettering  of  country  life  upon  a  more  permanent  basis  than  the  needs 
of  today  and  next  year. 

Again,  I  believe,  that  the  farm  bureaus  may  well  take  as  one  of 
their  chief  purposes  the  proposal  to  make  rural  civilization  as  efficient 
and  satisfying  as  city  civilization  by  the  creation  within  their  boun- 
daries of  those  necessary  appurtenances  to  successful  country  life  that 
come  through  governmental  agencies.  By  that  I  mean  such  things  as 
good  roads,  good  schools,  equable  taxation,  and  the  repression  of  crime 
and  immorality.  I  believe  that  those  farm  bureaus  in  California 
which  have  encouraged  the  building  of  permanent  roads  have  done 
more  perhaps  than  even  they  have  realized.  They  have  brought  into 
being  a  community  asset  which  will  live  after  those  who  have  pro- 
moted it  are  long  gone  away. 

Persons  will  arise  who  will  tell  us  that  the  farm  bureau  most  of 
all  needs  to  start  a  department  store  where  hats,  shoes,  and  cookstoves 
will  be  sold.  They  will  say  this  because  they  believe  some  local  shop- 
keeper is  deriving  an  unjust  profit.  Others  will  tell  us  that  the  farm 
bureau  should  elect  some  man  governor  and  thereby  cause  to  be  recti- 
fied all  injustices  of  government  and  all  defects  of  politics.  Still 
others  will  cry  that  the  farm  bureaus  attack  the  labor  problem  in 
such  a  way  as  to  create  immediately  a  sort  of  rural  industrial  slavery 
whereby  yellow  or  brown  men  will  work  for  scanty  wages  to  raise  up 
a  landed  class  of  aristocrats.  But  I  do  not  believe  that  the  farm 
bureau  is  in  any  danger  of  selling  its  position  for  such  a  mess  of 
pottage.  Such  voices  will  be  in  the  small  minority,  and  the  conserv- 
ative, sober  judgment  of  the  farmers  will  continue  to  point  out  the 
wise  course. 

And,  finally,  I  believe  that  the  farm  bureau  must  clearly  compre- 
hend that  in  order  to  be  an  agent  of  progress  it  must  be  a  vehicle  of 
work.  It  must  have  a  definite  programme  and  projects.  It  must  lay 
out  a  line  of  attack  for  the  problems  to  be  solved,  and  it  will  proceed 
precisely  as  fast  as  its  members  are  willing  to  put  their  time  and 


15 

attention  into  the  solving  of  those  problems.  No  association  is  worth 
its  salt  unless  it  does  something.  The  passing  of  resolutions  is  seldom 
effective  as  a  means  of  progress.  Many  organizations  have  been 
wrecked  on  that  rock.  They  have  gradually  worked  themselves  up 
into  a  state  of  mind  whereby  they  somehow  felt  that  through  the 
passing  of  resolutions  they  caused  the  world  to  advance.  They  would 
spend  a  day  appointing  committees  and  wrangling  over  the  wording 
of  flowing  sentences,  and  then  go  home  with  the  glowing  sense  that 
they  had  accomplished  something ;  but  the  sun  would  set  upon  a  world 
that  was  no  different  than  that  upon  which  it  had  risen. 

A  farm  bureau  to  be  effective  must  get  the  active  co-operative 
interest  and  work  of  its  entire  membership.  No  single  board  of 
directors  can  carry  a  farm  bureau  forward  to  success.  The  more 
persons  involved  in  the  solving  of  the  problem,  the  more  certain  it  is 
that  it  will  be  solved  correctly  and  the  quicker  it  will  reach  that 
solution.  I  believe  that  the  work  of  the  farm  bureau  should  be  built 
up  not  only  on  a  county  programme  of  work  but  on  a  community  and 
even  an  individual  programme  of  work  where  members  from  the  farm 
bureau  should  have  laid  out  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  not  only 
what  part  their  county  is  going  to  take  in  the  programme  for  agricul- 
tural progress,  not  only  what  work  the  farm  bureau  center  is  going 
to  do  and  what  projects  it  is  going  to  further,  but  what  they,  them- 
selves, are  going  to  do  to  aid  in  this  programme — what  part  they  are 
going  to  take  in  the  enterprise.  Built  upon  such  a  basis,  the  farm 
bureau  will  become  the  most  potent  factor  in  rural  life.  Already 
we  are  beginning  to  see  the  progress  that  has  been  made.  The  public 
is  confused  and  perplexed  by  the  multiplicity  of  agencies  which  exist, 
some  of  which  spend  their  time  passing  resolutions  or  writing  up  in 
the  newspapers  what  they  intend  to  do.  Glance  for  a  moment  at  your 
newspaper  column  and  see  the  wide  diversity  there  is  in  the  pub- 
lished material  of  that  which  is  promised  from  that  which  is  accom- 
plished. So  many  investigations  are  to  be  made,  so  many  criminals 
are  to  be  caught,  so  many  irrigation  districts  and  roads  and  railways 
are  to  be  built — but  how  few  announcements  you  see  that  they  have 
been  built — that  they  have  been  brought  into  existence.  Fortunately 
thus  far  the  farm  bureau  has  advertised  itself  by  accomplishment 
rather  than  promises.  It  tells  more  about  what  it  has  done  than  what 
it  intends  to  do.  It  has  concerned  itself  with  getting  concrete  results 
that  were  demonstrational  in  terms  of  dollars  and  cents,  and  in  homes 
and  farms  made  better.  I  hope  our  farm  bureaus  may  never  be  con- 
fused in  their  perception  of  the  problem,  which  is  not  to  delineate  a 
policy  for  some  other  institution  to  further,  but  to  attack  the  problem 
themselves  first-hand  and  to  bring  it  to  consummation. 

Already  our  farm  bureau  centers  are  becoming  a  real  community 


16 

meeting  place  and  focal  point  for  progressive  ideas.  The  farm  bureaus 
have  always  maintained  themselves  as  a  public  forum  towards  which 
all  persons  may  come  to  present  their  cases  to  the  rural  people.  I 
hope  that  the  farm  bureaus  will  always  so  remain  and  will  not  be 
afraid  to  hear  any  one  who  has  a  straight  story  to  tell. 

I  look  forward  to  the  time  when  the  farm  bureau  center  shall 
become  a  community  center  in  the  real  sense.  I  see  there  a  rural 
school  with  an  auditorium  to  seat  the  people  of  the  country-side; 
that  in  that  school  guided,  aided,  and  advised  by  the  farm  bureau, 
there  will  be  boys  and  girls  who  take  a  real  interest  in  their  work 
because  they,  too,  are  a  part  of  that  farm  bureau  center;  that  the 
school  will  be  manned  by  an  agricultural  teacher  employed  twelve 
months  in  the  year  who  sees  beyond  the  walls  of  the  building  and 
who  looks  out  to  the  farm  and  fields  not  only  as  a  means  of  inspiration 
but  as  a  laboratory  for  his  work.  There  will  be  a  woman  employed 
as  a  teacher  of  the  subjects  that  center  about  the  home,  who  will 
gather  to  herself  a  group  of  girls  who  will  be  taught  how  to  make  the 
homes  of  the  community  as  efficient  as  they  can  be  developed;  that 
in  that  school  there  will  be  a  branch  of  the  county  free  library  under 
our  California  system  which  will  give  any  man  the  book  he  wants 
at  the  time  he  wants  it,  and  there  shall  be  a  community  kitchen  and 
dining-room  where  the  people  can  get  together  for  picnics  and  suppers. 
In  the  simple  auditorium  will  be  held  the  farm  bureau  center  meetings 
and  other  committee  meetings  from  night  to  night  and  from  week  to 
week.  Back  of  that  farm  bureau  center,  focused  in  the  county  seat, 
there  will  be  a  farm  advisor,  a  home  demonstration  agent,  and  a 
county  club  leader  acting  as  the  agents  for  those  agricultural  institu- 
tions which  are  gathering  the  facts  for  the  progress  of  country  life 
and  from  that  country  life  will  come  the  wisest,  most  public-spirited 
and  ablest  farmers  as  directors  of  the  county  farm  bureau  who  will 
sit  together  and  plan  out  with  the  aid  and  direction  of  the  other 
farmers  of  the  county  the  plans  and  projects  which  will  make  for  the 
betterment  of  the  folk  who  live  on  farms.  Such  agencies  as  this 
gathered  together  into  a  state  organization  for  mutual  helpfulness  and 
occasional  meetings  from  all  the  states  in  a  national  organization  where 
experience  and  plans  may  be  exchanged  will  be  to  America  the  greatest 
governor  of  the  body  politic.  On  this  will  be  builded  for  all  time  a 
sane  and  progressive  country  life  which  will  give  to  the  cities  of 
America  that  basis  for  confidence  and  co-operation  which  they  have  a 
right  to  expect  and  which  the  farmers  are  willing  to  extend. 

What,  then,  is  the  function  of  the  farm  bureau?  To  make  better 
farms  and  better  homes  in  the  open  country. 


